In a statement to the press regarding the Tal Afar operation, Iraqi General Necim Cuburi said that the district has been cleared of ISIS and clean-up operations continue.

The Tal Afar operation was launched on August 20 with the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi’s announcement. The operation is carried out by the Iraqi army, anti-terror forces, federal police forces and the Shia militia force Hashd al-Shaabi, with a total of a 40.000 strong force.

Tal Afar was invaded by ISIS on June 16, 2014 and is 63 km to the west of Mosul. Mostly Shia and Sunni Turkmens live in the town, but most of the Shia had to move away after the ISIS invasion.

Tal Afar was one of the largest residential areas under ISIS control left in Iraq and Southern Kurdistan. With Tal Afar taken back, ISIS will have only Kirkuk’s Hawija district and the rural areas to the southwest of Mosul left under their control in Iraq.