ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi army has begun preparations to launch its offensive to reclaim Tal Afar, the biggest remaining ISIS stronghold in Nineveh province by deploying tanks near the town.
Fahd Abdullah Taai, an officer within the Iraqi army, said in a press conference that nearly 100 tanks and armored vehicles full of soldiers have been stationed near Badush area, 40 kilometers from Tal Afar as part of ramped up preparations to liberate the predominately Turkmen town from ISIS.
Taai said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will order the launch of the battle in the next few days.
"Haider al-Abadi will set the zero hour based on reports from the ground military commanders, the enemy's situation and the army's military preparations," Taai added.
"According to the eventualities, in the next few days the operations will start," he said.
Tal Afar, 60 kilometers west of Mosul, has been under ISIS control since mid-2014.
And an official from the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi has reported that the Hashd's Abbas division has received a green light from Abadi to gear up for the Tal Afar offensive.
He has also said they have called 3,000 militants for the battle and received weapons from the Iraqi defense ministry.
Fahd Abdullah Taai, an officer within the Iraqi army, said in a press conference that nearly 100 tanks and armored vehicles full of soldiers have been stationed near Badush area, 40 kilometers from Tal Afar as part of ramped up preparations to liberate the predominately Turkmen town from ISIS.
Taai said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will order the launch of the battle in the next few days.
"Haider al-Abadi will set the zero hour based on reports from the ground military commanders, the enemy's situation and the army's military preparations," Taai added.
"According to the eventualities, in the next few days the operations will start," he said.
Tal Afar, 60 kilometers west of Mosul, has been under ISIS control since mid-2014.
And an official from the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi has reported that the Hashd's Abbas division has received a green light from Abadi to gear up for the Tal Afar offensive.
He has also said they have called 3,000 militants for the battle and received weapons from the Iraqi defense ministry.
The US-led global coalition has continued to provide air strikes against ISIS in the three weeks since Mosul city was declared liberated.
Most recently on Sunday, the Coalition announced a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit buildings, two vehicles, a mortar system, and a fighting position.
In Tal Afar "we are not going to wait for ISIS to dig in," Coalition spokesperson Col. Ryan Dillon told Rudaw English.
He explained that as ISIS fortifies positions, the Coalition is not going to wait for the commencement of the ground offensive.
Most recently on Sunday, the Coalition announced a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit buildings, two vehicles, a mortar system, and a fighting position.
In Tal Afar "we are not going to wait for ISIS to dig in," Coalition spokesperson Col. Ryan Dillon told Rudaw English.
He explained that as ISIS fortifies positions, the Coalition is not going to wait for the commencement of the ground offensive.
Neighboring Turkey has long opposed the involvement of Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries in the operation to retake Tal Afar from ISIS, citing violence at the hands of the group against the Turkmen populated town and fearing it will alter the region's demographics.
Abadi told a tribal delegation from Tal Afar in late 2016 that the Hashd forces would not enter the Turkmen town and instead the Iraqi army would take over that mission.
Since after the start of the Iraqi and Kurdish offensive to evict ISIS from Mosul and the surrounding areas on Oct. 17, the Hashd forces have been fighting on the city’s western front, tasked with closing the route between Mosul and the militants’ so-called capital, the Syrian city of Raqqa.
And in a wide-scale operation by the group in May, they defeated ISIS in the southern parts of the Shingal region and in Baaj town, advancing to the Syrian border.
Kurdish officials repeatedly stressed that the Iraqi government's move to prioritize the Tal Afar operation over Hawija, another ISIS stronghold, is the opposite of what Kurds want to see.
Kurdish leadership has warned the Hawija area poses a direct security threat to Kirkuk.
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