Iraqi forces capture Tal Afar centre from IS

epa06164158 Iraqi Federal police forces take up position in central Tal Afer city, western Mosul, northern Iraq, 25 August 2017 (issued 26 August 2017). Iraqi forces and Shiite militia troops advance to the center of Tal Afer city, after recapturing several districts from the Islamic State group (IS), the Iraqi Joint Operations Centre said in a statement. EPA-EFE/STR

TAL AFAR / Reuters

Iraqi forces have dislodged IS from 70 percent of Tal Afar, a stronghold of the militants in northwestern Iraq, including its central citadel neighborhood, officials and military commanders said on Saturday.
“Seventy percent of the city has been liberated…. God willing, the remaining part will be liberated soon,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said at a news conference with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and French Defence Minister Florence Parly, in Baghdad. The offensive on Tal Afar, which lies on the supply route between Syria and the former IS stronghold of Mosul, started on August 20. The elite Counter Terrorism Service “liberated the citadel neighborhood .. and raised the Iraqi flag on top of the citadel building,” a statement from the Iraqi joint operations command said.
Much of the Ottoman-era citadel itself was destroyed by the militants end 2014. The city, located 80 km (50 miles) west of Mosul, has produced some of the militant group’s most senior commanders.

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