The AhlulBayt News Agency today released a statement by Iraqi Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah who said that his forces have killed more than 3,000 ISIS terrorists during the operations to liberate the Tal Afar and al-Ayadiya districts in Nineveh province.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi had already declared victory three days ago in the northern city of Tal Afar, and in succession also in the whole province of Nineveh against IS: “Tal Afar has been liberated. We say to the ISIS fighters: Wherever you are, we are coming for you and you have no choice but to surrender or die.”
Iraqi ground forces started the operation to liberate Tal Afar on August 20, just one month after having recapturing the country’s second biggest city, Mosul. You will remember that the battle for Mosul was a very long and bloody one, as ISIS tried to desperately hold on to what they see as their capital in Iraq.
The terrorist organization ISIS who declared an Islamic caliphate in their captured regions where the strict Sharia law would be upheld, started a bloody campaign of death and destruction in Iraq in 2014, and was very successful in that year as well as the following. As from half of 2016 however, the Iraqi forces, with help of the Kurdih peshmerga fighters in Syria, and logistical supports from US forces, started to get better organized and appeared to be retaking much of the lost territory. The war in Iraq has been drawing to a close now, and it is expected that soon ISIS will have to retreat to their Syrian stronghold Raqqa.
Journalist for Al Jazeera, Mr Osama Bin Javaid, claimed that this is another major blow for ISIS: "The loss of Nineveh province is crucial because this is where ISIL declared its caliphate. This province was also the engine of the ISIL economy. It is where they used to smuggle oil to other areas. It is also where they used to generate big revenues in terms of taxes."
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