Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi takes strategic town near Mosul

By Hussein al-Amir and Ahmed Qassim

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi ("popular mobilization") forces on Wednesday recaptured a village west of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group, according to a Hashd al-Shaabi officer.

"Our fighters cut the road linking the villages of Ain Talawi and Telal Silo northwest of the Tal Afar district and have already captured the first village," Hashd al-Shaabi First Lieutenant Hameed Khafaji told Anadolu Agency.

According to Khafaji, some Hashd al-Shaabi forces have joined up with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters south of Sinjar and cut the road linking Mosul with Tal Afar, which Daesh had used as a supply route.

During the operation to capture Ain Talawi, he added, Hashd al-Shaabi forces had successfully extended their control over some 40 square kilometers of territory.

Established three years ago with the express purpose of fighting Daesh, the Hashd al-Shaabi is an umbrella of pro-government fighting groups.

Last December, Iraq passed legislation calling for the group’s formal incorporation into the Iraqi armed forces.

In October, the Iraqi army -- backed by a U.S.-led air coalition and local allies on the ground -- began a wide-ranging campaign to retake the northern city of Mosul, which Daesh overran in mid-2014.

Last week, the Iraqi army announced the "total liberation" of eastern Mosul -- after three months of fighting -- from the grip of the terrorist group.