Tabnak – Days after Iraqi warplanes began to target ISIS positions in their last important Iraqi stronghold Tal Afar, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the start of ground offensive against the terrorists in the city. The operation could be decisive to completely uproot ISIS in the country.
Reuters reports that Iraqi security forces launched on Sunday an offensive to take back the city of Tal Afar, their next objective to defeat ISIS terrorists, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said. "You either surrender, or die," Abadi said in a televised speech announcing the offensive, addressing the terrorists.
Hours before Abadi's announcement, the Iraqi air force dropped leaflets over the city telling the population to take their precautions. "Prepare yourself, the battle is imminent and the victory is coming, God willing," they read.
Iraqi warplanes have bombarded ISIS positions in the city for several days, in preparation for ground operations. Last month, a senior Iraqi commander who once served as mayor of Tal Afar said there were between 1,500 and 2,000 militants and their family members left in the city.
In the first phase of the operation, federal police forces freed the al-Ibra area around Tal Afar and pushed further west of the town into the Saad, Zahra, and Wahda areas, the Iraqi army press office announced early Sunday morning.
The operation is expected to continue for a few weeks, taking the geography, demography, and size of the area compared to the city of Mosul in consideration. The forces involved in the offensive are the Iraqi army, the federal police, the counter-terrorism units, and the Hashd al-Shaabi Shia militia, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Speaking about the prospects of an imminent victory, Iraqi Colonel Kareem al-Lami says "Intelligence gathered shows clearly that the remaining fighters are mainly foreign and Arab nationals with their families and that means they will fight until the last breath.”
Al-Lami noted that while most of the city has streets wide enough to allow easy access for military vehicles, there are some areas where Iraqi-led forces will need to move street by street, similar to the final days of the Mosul campaign.
However, humanitarian organizations are not expecting a mass exodus similar to that seen during the Mosul offensive. From 10,000 to 40,000 civilians are believed to be in Tal Afar and surrounding areas, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
A longtime stronghold of hardline insurgents, Tal Afar, 50 miles (80 km) west of Mosul, was cut off from the rest of the ISIS-held territory in June. The city is surrounded by Iraqi government troops and Shi'ite volunteers in the south, and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the north.
It should be noted that beside Tal Afar, ISIS controls territory around Hawija, 170km (105 miles) to the south-east; and from Ana to Al-Qaim in the Euphrates river valley, 220km to the south.
