Daesh holed up in last Tal Afar stronghold: Iraqi army

By Mohamed Waleed and Sarhad Shakir

NINEVEH, Iraq (AA) - Iraqi forces have retaken roughly 60 percent of Tal Afar’s northwestern Al-Ayadieh district from the Daesh terrorist group, according to an Iraqi military source.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Wednesday, Ezzedine al-Andalusi, an officer in the army’s Joint Operations Command, said that Iraqi forces had also restored the main highway running through the area.

He went on to predict that Tal Afar’s Al-Ayadieh district would be “entirely liberated” by the end of the week.

For the last 10 days, Iraqi forces -- backed by a U.S.-led coalition -- have waged a fierce campaign to wrest Tal Afar from the grip of the terrorist group.

Earlier this week, the Iraqi government announced Tal Afar’s recapture -- with the exception of the Al-Ayadieh district.

In related development, five Iraqi security personnel were killed Wednesday by a suicide car bomb as they advanced towards Daesh-held Al-Ayadieh, Army Captain Sabhan Mohamed told Anadolu Agency.

While no group claimed responsibility for the bombing, Daesh is widely assumed to have been behind the attack.

A predominantly Turkmen district, Tal Afar -- located 60 kilometers east of the Syrian border -- was overrun by the terrorist group in mid-2014, along with vast territories in northern and western Iraq.