Iraqi forces advance into Daesh-held town of Tal Afar

Humvees and vehicles of the combined Iraqi forces and Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization units) advance inside the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, after the Iraqi government announced the launch of the operation to retake it from Daesh group control, on Friday. (AFP)

BAGHDAD: Iraqi military officials said on Friday that the country’s forces have advanced into the center of the Daesh-held town of Tal Afar.
Iraqi spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool told the Associated Press that Iraqi forces took control of several neighborhoods as they advanced toward the center of town and are currently at the outskirts of the neighborhood of Al-Qalaa.
Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil of Iraq’s special forces said the US-led coalition provided air cover while Iraqi troops pushed into the town’s center. Clashes are ongoing with Daesh militants, he said.
Tal Afar is about 150 km from Syria’s border and it is among the last Daesh-held towns in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iraqi military investigators said they discovered two mass graves near a former Daesh prison near Mosul containing the bodies of 500 victims of the group.
The Media Cell Security Investigation team said in a statement that one grave near the Badoush Prison site contained the bodies of 470 prisoners killed by Daesh. It said a second grave contained 30 victims. A security official said, preferring anonymity, most of the victims are believed to be Shiites or other minorities.
A massacre at Badoush Prison in June 2014 left 600 male inmates dead. A patch of scraped earth and tire tracks show the likely killing site, according to exclusive photos obtained by the imagery intelligence firm AllSource Analysis.
Separately, the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiite majority called on doctors from across Iraq to help civilians fleeing clashes in the latest fight against Daesh in Iraq.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani said medical workers should travel to areas around the battle for Tal Afar to help “to treat the wounded and treat them as a humanitarian, national and religious duty.”