TAL AFAR, Iraq – Peshmerga arrested twelve ISIS militants and at least another five were killed as militants tried to approach Kurdish positions north of Tal Afar Sunday night.
ISIS militants aimed to “approach and infiltrate” the Peshmerga lines, read a statement from the Kurdish command for the Tigris front on Monday.
It said clashes then erupted between the two sides: two ISIS militants blew themselves up, more were killed, and others retreated.
Kamil Harki, a Peshmerga commander, told Rudaw that they arrested 12 and five were killed in the clashes.
The incident happened at Khara’ij village, near the ISIS-held al-A’ayaziyah sub-district northwest of Tal Afar.
Iraqi forces and the mainly Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi are now advancing on the area where Rudaw’s cameras captured plumes of smoke rising into the sky.
Ashti Kochar, a commander within the Kurdish Asayesh security force, told Rudaw that they had prior information that ISIS militants would attempt to flee to Syria from Tal Afar. They, therefore, set up ambushes in three locations, killing a total of 14 militants.
The Iraqi army declared the Turkmen city of Tal Afar liberated on Sunday after an eight-day operation.
