ahlam1399
08-01-2017, 06:46 AM
MOSUL, Iraq: A senior Iraqi general predicted a relatively easy victory for his forces in the upcoming battle for the Islamic State haven of Tal Afar as up 2,000 fighters and their families there are "worn out and demoralised".
Less than one month after declaring victory in the city of Mosul, Iraqi forces are poised to attack Tal Afar, which is around 40 km to the west of Mosul, in what will be the next major battle against the militants.
"I don’t expect it will be a fierce battle even though the enemy is surrounded," Major-General Najm al-Jabouri told Reuters in an interview. Jabouri, a key battlefield commander, said the fight would be simple compared to the nine months of gruelling urban combat in Mosul, which took a heavy toll on Iraqi forces.
"The enemy is very worn out," said Jabouri, who was mayor of Tal Afar when it was overrun by insurgents more than a decade ago. "I k**w from the intelligence reports that their morale is low," the general added.
The city, with about 200,000 residents before falling to Islamic State, experienced cycles of sectarian violence after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and produced some of Islamic State’s most senior commanders.
It has also become the focus of a wider regional struggle for influence. Turkey, which claims affinity with Tal Afar’s predominantly ethnic Turkmen population, opposes the involvement of paramilitary groups fighting with Iraqi forces, some of which are backed by Iran.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/VUm8hE53mEk
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/VUm8hE53mEk/220359-Iraqi-general-sees-easy-victory-over-exhausted-IS)
Less than one month after declaring victory in the city of Mosul, Iraqi forces are poised to attack Tal Afar, which is around 40 km to the west of Mosul, in what will be the next major battle against the militants.
"I don’t expect it will be a fierce battle even though the enemy is surrounded," Major-General Najm al-Jabouri told Reuters in an interview. Jabouri, a key battlefield commander, said the fight would be simple compared to the nine months of gruelling urban combat in Mosul, which took a heavy toll on Iraqi forces.
"The enemy is very worn out," said Jabouri, who was mayor of Tal Afar when it was overrun by insurgents more than a decade ago. "I k**w from the intelligence reports that their morale is low," the general added.
The city, with about 200,000 residents before falling to Islamic State, experienced cycles of sectarian violence after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and produced some of Islamic State’s most senior commanders.
It has also become the focus of a wider regional struggle for influence. Turkey, which claims affinity with Tal Afar’s predominantly ethnic Turkmen population, opposes the involvement of paramilitary groups fighting with Iraqi forces, some of which are backed by Iran.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/VUm8hE53mEk
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/VUm8hE53mEk/220359-Iraqi-general-sees-easy-victory-over-exhausted-IS)