ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The mainly Shiite militia Hashd al-Shaabi announced Saturday an offensive to recapture areas to the west of Mosul from ISIS, a front left open since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi launched the Mosul operation 13 days ago.
“This morning the second page of the major operations has been launched from the western front of the city of Mosul... where your sons and brothers from Hashd al-Shaabi will take upon themselves the liberation of all occupied areas after two years of humiliating occupation,” Ahmad al-Asadi, a spokesperson for the Hashd al-Shaabi said in a statement on Saturday.
“The wounded and victim town of Tal Afar and other towns will be among the areas [Hashd al-Shaabi] will liberate," Asadi added.
Tal Afar is a largely Turkmen town with a mixed Sunni and Shiite population.
The Iraqi and Kurdish forces have made advances from the north, east, and south of Mosul thus far, but the front in the west was left almost intact, potentially providing an escape route for the ISIS militants to make their way to Syria.
