Iraq readies force to storm flashpoint town near Mosul

Arab Telegraph 25 نوفمبر,2016

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A man walks in front of a building destroyed during clashes between Iraqi forces and Islamic State fighters in Mosul, Iraq

Iraq is readying a special force tasked with storming Tal Afar, a bastion of Islamic State west of Mosul, in a way that would avoid revenge killings against the town’s Sunni population.

Capturing or isolating Tal Afar from Mosul is a key part of the U.S-backed offensive to take back Islamic State’s last major city stronghold in Iraq, by allowing the ground forces taking part in the campaign to complete Mosul’s encirclement.

The army and police forces planning to storm Tal Afar will include Sunni and Shi’ite Turkmens, reflecting the main mix of the town’s population, said Hisham al-Hashimi, a Baghdad-based analyst who advises the government on Islamic State affairs.

Tal Afar’s Shi’ite community fled after Islamic State, a hardline Sunni group, swept through the region two years ago, declaring from Mosul a “caliphate” that also spanned parts of Syria.

The offensive to take Mosul started on Oct. 17 with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition.

The attack on Tal Afar has been so far executed by Popular Mobilisation, a coalition made up mainly of Iranian-trained Shi’ite paramilitary groups whose involvement in the Mosul offensive sparked fears of sectarian killings.

The 3,500-strong force being set up to storm Tal Afar will operate from an air base just south of the city, said Hashimi. Popular Mobilisation, or Hashid Shaabi, will stay outside the town, enforcing a blockade, he said.

The Iraqi government has been keen on allying fears of sectarian killings in Tal Afar after Turkey threatened to intervene, citing its historic ties to Iraq’s ethnic Turkmens.