Militias aware of Tal Afar’s sensitivity as they prepare to storm Turkmen region
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Militias partaking in the fight to liberate the province of Nineveh from Islamic State militants are preparing for storming the Tal Afar precinct, Nineveh, but bearing in mind the sensitivity of the mostly-Turkmen region.
As the Sunni, Turkish-trained Nineveh Guards warn of sectarian twists following the liberation of Tal Afar, the Shia Hezbollah al-Nujabaa said it has no intention to change the area’s demographics.
Mahmoud al-Sorgy, a spokesperson for Guards of Nineveh, urged Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to deal with the battle of Tal Afar with “accuracy and sensitivity”.een no genuine intention to resolve it.” Commenting on preparations by the mostly-Shia al-Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces to partake in the liberation the city.
“The problem with Tal Afar is nothing new, and there hadn’t been a genuine intention to resolve it,” al-Sorgy told Alsumaria TV on Wednsday. He added that the battle for Tal Afar is now halted for “political reasons.”
Turkey had warned of the sensitivity of Tal Afar, warning of retaliatory measures by the advancing paramilitary forces, most notably al-Hashed al-Shaabi, against its Turkmen population. Prime minister Abadi had also assured that it gives more attention to the region than any other.
“Liberation is the duty of every Iraqi, and if it requires the participation of al-Hashed al-Shaabi or any other group, there will be no problem, but let’s work on ensuring there are no problems following the liberation.”
On its behalf, Hezbollah al-Nujabaa, a component of al-Hashed al-Shaabi, has said it is going to engage in “a ferocious fight” against ISIS in Tal Afar , but denied plans for a demographic change in the precinct.
Speaking to Alsumaria TV, the group’s spokesman, Hashem al-Mosawi, said the first two phases of the battle for Tal Afar had been finished. “Only remains is the storming of the precinct as phase three. He pointed that while the fight is “intense” on the military level, there is also a “political dispute” on the area, with Turkey intervening on the issue with “lame excuses,” as he put it.
“We do not intend to induce a demographic change, or occupy or settle in Tal Afar. We are rather seeking to purge it and return the refugees,” he added.