Victorious Iraqi
forces inside Tal Afar (Baghdad Post)
After eight days the
Tal Afar operation was over. The Iraqi forces (ISF) completed sweeping up the last neighborhoods
on the eastern tip of the town along with a few areas in the center. The battle was completed in amazing speed. The ISF
claimed that it was a sign that the Islamic State was finished and had lost its
morale. A general from the Golden Division for example told the press that IS’s
“back [was] broken.” While that is up to debate, what is not is the fact that
the insurgents largely abandoned the town. The ISF claimed only 259 fighters
were killed up to August 26. That compared to the 1,000-2,000 IS members the
Iraqis predicted would be there before the operation began. According to a Ninewa councilman most IS elements were killed in Mosul or fled
afterward leaving few for Tal Afar. Although the town was surrounded at the end
of 2016, the cordon never appeared to be very strong allowing ample opportunity
for militants to leave.
With Tal Afar
finished the army headed towards the Ayadiyah district to the north, which was
still under IS control. The 15th and 16th Division took several villages in the area. Ayadiyah will likely be cleaned up quickly.
Another surprising
feature of Tal Afar was that the city was mostly empty of people. There were
estimates that up to 200,000 civilians might be living in the town. According
to the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration roughly
28,145 people left the Tal Afar district from the middle of July when the
Iraqis and Coalition began bombing the area until when the fighting was
finished in August. When the assault on the city started only around 5,000 were
left. 50,000 total were reportedly displaced from April to August. Like the militants, the vast majority
of people departed Tal Afar long before the operation began.
SOURCES
Baghdad Post, “1,500
civilians forced from homes in Tal Afar,” 8/27/17
- “Iraqi army
liberates 6 villages in Tal Afar,” 8/27/17
- “Iraqi forces
recapture Tal Afar center,” 8/27/17
Bas News, “Thousands
of Iraqi Civilians Fleeing Tel Afar Assisted by UN,” 8/22/17
Al Ghad Press, “Map:
Nasr and Allah Nasr In The Center Of Tal Afar 100% Under Iraqi Control,”
8/27/17
El-Ghobashy, Tamer
and Salim, Mustafa, “Iraqi military reclaims city of Tal Afar after rapid
Islamic State collapse,” Washington Post, 8/27/17
International
Organization for Migration, “Displacement Tracking Matrix Emergency Tracking
Mosul Operations Data Snapshot: 13 July 2017,” 7/13/17
Iraq Newspaper,
“Iraqi Newspaper Reporter In Tal Afar: The Liberation Of The Industrial And The
Military Areas By 15th and 16th Division Advancing To
Ayadiyah Without The Popular Crowd Due To Its Proximity To Turkey,” 8/27/17
Iraqi Media Network,
“Freed 4 villages west Ayadiyah,” 8/27/17
Al Jazeera, “Iraqi
forces ‘completing mission’ to drive ISIL out from northern Iraq,” 8/27/17
- “Thousands flee
ahead of Tal Afar ground invasion,” 8/19/17
Al Mada, “The Battle
of Tal Afar was quick and clean thanks to its isolation from Mosul,” 8/27/17
Mostafa, Mohamed,
“500 families flee Tal Afar to Syria: Kurdish commander,” Iraqi News, 8/25/17
Mostafa, Nehal,
“More than 200 Islamic State militants killed in southwestern Tal Afar:
Military,” Iraqi News, 8/27/17
New Sabah, “Freed
the center of Tal Afar in full and announce the victory of Bashir in the next
few days,” 8/27/17
Rudaw, “First look
at Tal Afar after ISIS as Iraqi forces claim victory,” 8/27/17
- “Iraqi forces in
full control of Turkmen city of Tal Afar, military,” 8/27/17
UN High Commissioner
for Refugees, “Iraq Situation: UNHCR Flash Update – 3 August 2017,” 8/3/17
- “Iraq Situation:
UNHCR Flash Update – 6 August 2017,” 8/6/17
- “Iraq Situation:
UNHCR Flash Update – 9 July 2017,” 7/9/17
- “Iraq Situation:
UNHCR Flash Update – 10 August 2017,” 8/10/17
- “Iraq Situation:
UNHCR Flash Update – 14 August 2017,” 8/14/17
- “Iraq Situation:
UNHCR Flash Update – 17 August 2017” 8/17/17
- “Iraq Situation:
UNHCR Flash Update – 23 August 2017,” 8/23/17
- “Iraq Situation:
UNHCR Flash Update – 24 July 2017,” 7/24/17
- “Iraq Situation:
UNHCR Flash Update – 30 July 2017,” 7/30/17
- “UNHCR Iraq opens
new camp for displaced families fleeing Telafar and surrounding areas,” 8/27/17
UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Iraq: Mosul Humanitarian Response
Situation Report No. 40 (12 to 26 July 2017), 7/27/17
Xinhua, “Iraqi
forces recapture remaining areas from IS near Tal Afar,” 8/28/17
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