Iraq begins battle to retake Tal Afar, IS bastion near Mosul

Iraqi forces on Sunday launched an assault to retake the northern city of Tal Afar from the IS, after ousting the jihadis from Mosul last month

A video screengrab shows PM Haider al-Abadi announcing the start of ops in Tal Afar

Iraqi forces on Sunday launched an assault to retake the northern city of Tal Afar from the IS, after ousting the jihadis from Mosul last month. In a televised speech early yesterday, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, dressed in military uniform and standing in front of an Iraqi flag and map of the country, announced "the start of an operation to free Tal Afar".

A displaced Iraqi boy, who fled the fighting in Mosul, gestures to the camera at Debaga camp. Pics/AFP

"I am saying to Daesh that there's no choice other than to leave or be killed," he said. "We have won all our battles, and Daesh have always lost."

Hours after the start, the federal police said it had retaken the village of Al-Abra al-Sghira west of Tal Afar.

Spain mourns
Grief-stricken Barcelona paid homage yesterday to victims of terror assaults in the Sagrada Familia church, as investigators turned their focus to a missing Moroccan imam, who allegedly radicalised the attackers. The Catalan government also said the cell that had carried out the attacks had been "neutralised".

'IS used UK firms'
The Islamic State has used a network of companies operating out of Wales in the UK to finance terror plots, including the recent attacks in Spain, a media report said yesterday. FBI documents reveal that surveillance technology dispatched to Spain is believed to be linked to the development by the terror group of weaponised drones routed through the UK.

2 lakh
Population of Tal Afar in 2014 when IS entered

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