Defense ministry says Tal Afar civilians give accurate intelligence on IS

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com)  Civilians at the Islamic State stronghold town of Tal Afar are giving accurate intelligence on Islamic State militants to security forces, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.

Ministry spokesperson Mohamed al-Khodari told Almaalomah website that “the airforce carries out daily special operations against the command centers of Daesh (IS) criminals in Tal Afar based on intelligence information from the people and the Joint Operations Command’.

He said that cooperation on the civilians’ behalf  and their willingness to “risk their lives” signals their indignance with the group.

Since Islamic State occupied large areas of Iraq in 2014, the group regularly executed civilians, security agents and even group members for espionage in collaboration with security forces.

Islamic State has held Tal Afar since 2014, when the group occupied a third of Iraq to establish a self-styled “caliphate”. The town had become a vital bastion for the group since then.

The Iraqi government declared victory over IS in Mosul last month, while army-backed paramilitary forces isolated Tal Afar both from Mosul and from the Syrian borders. The Iraqi military command had pointed to Tal Afar as the next target of offensives designed to clear the country from IS militants.