ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Shiite paramilitary force of Hashd al-Shaabi has the Iraqi city of Tal Afar near the Syrian border under siege and they are ready to storm it, says one of their commanders, but it is preferable if the local population themselves liberated the city.
“We have fully surrounded Tal Afar east and west and cut off ISIS militants from Syria,” Karim Nuri, one of the commanders of the Hashd told Rudaw Friday evening. “From all directions we have the city under siege and await orders to storm it.”
Nuri added that they prefer local forces to liberate the city that has been under ISIS for more than two years.
“We do hope that the people of Tal Afar themselves will liberate the city and if they need help we will go ahead with it, but again we want them to do that if they can because if they sacrifice for the liberation of their city they will appreciate it more and it will never fall again to ISIS or any terrorist group.” Nuri said.
He also maintained that local police and security forces are also involved in the ongoing operations and that the final battle will be easy thanks to “cutting off all the roads,”
The Hashd commander who has been on the Tal Afar front from the start of the Mosul operations said that concern for civilian populations is the reason the liberation of the city has taken this long.
“It is not a traditional war between two armies, the presence of civilians makes it hard and we cannot use all our force and it slows us down,” he said. “It is not correct to hurry up.”
Nuri said that sooner or later Mosul and Tal Afar will be liberated and ISIS will be gone, but that the government must address their grievances in order to stop any resurgence of terrorism in the area.
“Unemployment helps terrorism, so I hope the government and the international community help Mosul and rebuild it,” he said, adding that many people have lost their jobs since the coming of ISIS to the area and that the government must address that too.
Nuri praised the cooperation between the Hashd al-Shaabi and Kurdish Peshmerga since the start of the war against ISIS in 2014, citing the joint liberation of Amerli and Jalawlaw in Diyala as a successful example.
“ISIS does not distinguish between Peshmerga and Hashd or Kurd or Shia,” he said.
He added that despite their crucial role in ridding the country of ISIS, the Hashd members are seeking a civilian life and would hand over their guns to the government in the end, saying that therefore no armed group should be allowed in any area outside government forces including in Shingal.
“After ISIS I am sure the weapons of Hashd will be in the hands of the government only and we don’t accept any armed groups,” he said. “We are seeking civilian life.”
“And in Shingal there must be a vision to give it back to its people. Only its people can do protection. No span of land can be given to anyone else.”
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