Iraqi forces begin fighting house-by-house for last IS holdout at Tal Afar

BAGHDAD / Reuters

Iraqi forces backed by Shi’ite paramilitaries began fighting house-by-house in the one town left to take from IS before they can declare complete victory over the group’s former stronghold of Tal Afar, military commanders said. Hundreds of battle-hardened IS militants are defending al-Ayadiya, a small town outside
Tal Afar which itself is about 80 km
(50 miles) west of Mosul, the
former de facto IS capital in northern
Iraq that was recaptured in July, army
officers said.
“Our soldiers now are engaging in a street fight with the militant group in al-Ayadiya,” Lieutenant General Qasim Nazzal told state television, adding that fighters in groups of three were barricaded inside “every single house and building”.
The terrain does not allow tanks to enter, so infantry soldiers have been using light weapons and grenades, Colonel Salah Kareem told Reuters.