Tal Afar Battle Day 6

On the sixth day of the Tal Afar offensive the three fronts attacking the town all met. The two thrusts from in the west met up with the southern push. That was accomplished by taking Nida, Khadra, Saad, Talaa, and Nasr. In the process, the entire Mahalabiya district was liberated. The Federal Police seized a town outside Tal Afar as well. By the end of the day just over half of the town was in government hands. The fighting should be over in just a few days, and then mopping up operations should take place to clear up the towns that were bypassed in the charge to get to Tal Afar.

A Peshmerga commander told the press that 500 families had fled the Tal Afar district to Syria. Several hundred people have been leaving the district each day. Most of those were going to camps to the south and east of Mosul. Syria is much closer, so it should be no surprise that displaced are heading that way as well.

SOURCES

AIN, “The results of the sixth day of Tal Afar we are coming, and the killing of 81 Daesh,” 8/25/17

- “Urgent liberation of al-Mahalabiya area east Tal Afar in full,” 8/25/17

Baghdad Today, “Anti-Terrorism Forces: Liberated 50% of the Al-Nida neighborhood in Tal Afar and this is our plan to confront the Daesh defenses,” 8/25/17

- “Security forces recapture Musheirafa village in Tal Afar,” 8/25/17

BBC, “Tal Afar battle: Iraqi forces ‘breach IS defences to reach city centre,” 8/25/17

Al Ghad Press, “The Federal Police are preparing to storm Qadisiyah after the liberation of the Saad district north-west Tal Afar,” 8/25/17

- “Joint forces liberate Talaa area of Tal Afar,” 8/25/17

Iraq Akhbar, “Counterterrorism Forces liberated the southern industrial district in Tal Afar,” 8/25/17

Iraq Newspaper, "Iraqi Newspaper Reporter In Tal Afar: The Killing Of A Colonel From The 10th Engineering Brigade," 8/25/17

Iraqi Broadcasting Networks, “Yarallah: Counter Terrorism Forces Free Al-Nida Neighborhood And Lifts The Iraqi Flag Over Its Buildings,” 8/25/17

Al Jazeera, “Iraqi forces ‘break through’ ISIL lines in Tal Afar,” 8/25/17

Al Mada, “The joint forces liberation the Mahalibiya area and enter the heart of Tal Afar,” 8/25/17

Mostafa, Mohamed, “500 families flee Tal Afar to Syria: Kurdish commander,” Iraqi News, 8/25/17

- “UPDATED: Iraqi forces retake 12 out of 28 Tal Afar neighborhoods,” Iraqi News, 8/25/17

Al Rafdain, “Joint forces: Our forces arrived at the outskirts of Al-Nada neighborhood and headed towards al-Rabea neighborhood in Tal Afar district,” 8/25/17

Al-Sudani, Thaier and Omar, Kawa, “Iraqi forces say they have broken through Islamic State lines in Tal Afar,” Reuters, 8/25/17

Wardana, “Freed Khadra neighboring and sustain the attack into the Tal Afar orchards,” 8/25/17

Xinhua, “Iraqi forces free town, more neighborhoods in Iraq’s Tal Afar,” 8/25/17

- “Iraqi forces tighten grip on IS stronghold in Tal Afar,” 8/25/17