Iraqi Forces Advance on IS-Held Tal Afar

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced on August 19 the launch of an operation to retake the city of Tal Afar, a city west of Mosul and one of Islamic State militants’ few remaining strongholds in the country.

Video from Rudaw, the Kurdish news organization, showed military movements near the city on August 20, as federal police and Shia militias reported their operations getting underway.

According to Arab 24, civilians were fleeing the city ahead of the offensive. Tal Afar, a traditionally Sunni Turkmen city, had a a population of about 200,000 people before the war, according to reports. The city was captured in 2014 by IS forces. Credit: Iraqi Federal Police via Storyful