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MOSUL, Iraq - The Shiite-led Hashd al Shaabi paramilitary force on Tuesday launched stage four of its offensive to “isolate and encircle” the largely Turkmen city of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, where the Shiite forces liberated a village and a road close to the city today.
"The fourth stage of the ‘We Are Coming Nineveh’ operation on the western front has begun, where the Legions of Victory continue their march to clear the rest of the usurped land,” a Hashd statement said.
“The operation aims to isolate and fully encircle Tal Afar city in preparation for its liberation from the ISIS dirt,” Ahmad al-Assadi, the spokesperson for the Shiite forces said in a statement.
The Hashd al-Shaabi had already claimed on Friday that forces had encircled the city from two sides, south and west.
They liberated the village of Khirab al-Jihash and the road between the villages of Zariqi and al-Shariah on Tuesday.
The Hashd al Shaabi, which says it has an armed force of 140,000 fighters, began its offensive southwest and west of Mosul on October 29, almost two weeks after the start of the Mosul operation by the Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
A week ago the group said that it had an area of 14,000 sq. km to recapture from ISIS.
“The front that has been tasked to the Hashd al-Shaabi is one of the most significant and most dangerous fronts in this operation,” al-Assadi said last month.
He added that the Hashd “is tasked with one of the widest areas, ranging from Qayyara in the west, Tal Afar in the north to the Mosul outskirts in the east and some areas on the Syrian-Iraqi border to the west.”
Assadi had also claimed that the area is vital and important for its geostrategic location between Iraq and Syria – where ISIS has its caliphate in the city of Raqqa -- but also because the militants’ top leader is believed to be there.
“The intelligence information indicates that their self-proclaimed caliph, the terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is usually present between Tal Afar and Baaj,” Assadi said.
When the paramilitaries began operations more than three weeks ago, they said the largely Turkmen town of Tal Afar was among areas they wanted to liberate.
“The wounded and victimized town of Tal Afar and other towns will be among the areas (Hashd al-Shaabi) will liberate," Asadi said in late October.
The Shiite militia said a week ago that decision is now with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and reaffirmed that the Iraqi federal police and the Iraqi army will enter the town.
Earlier this month Abadi told a delegation of tribal leaders from Tal Afar that the Hashd force will not enter the Turkmen town. He said that Iraqi forces would be given that responsibility.
Turkey had warned the Shiite forces against entering Tal Afar, for fear the force would brutalize the town’s population, which is largely Turkmen and a mix of Sunnis and Shiites.
Follow the war on Rudaw’s Live Map
Dark green - under Peshmerga control
Light green - encircled/battling by Peshmerga
Red - under Iraqi control
Pink - encircled/battling by Iraqi forces
Yellow - under Hashd al-Shaabi control
Orange - encircled/battling by Hashd al-Shaabi
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