Hashd al-Shaabi Ready to Liberate Tal Afar, West of Mosul: Spokesperson

MOSUL — The government-backed Shi'ite militia Hashd al-Shaabi is now fully ready to liberate the city of Tal Afar, and are waiting for the decision of the General Command of the Armed Forces, said the spokesperson of the militia.
According to the Spokesperson of the Hashd al-Shaabi, Ahmed al-Asadi the militia will definitely participate in the operations to retake the region of Tal Afar from the so-called Islamic State (IS) as it is a highly important area for the future operations, Fars News reported.
Asadi further added that the liberation of Tal Afar is for sure going to include the Hashd al-Shaabi and the start of the operations will be the next few days.
The Shi'ite militia Hashd al-Shaabi have been fighting alongside the Iraqi government forces since the start of the operation against IS in Iraq back in 2016. They managed to fully surround the city of Tal Afar several months ago, but no offensive has been launched yet.
However, Hashd al-Shaabi militiamen have been repeatedly reported by many human rights monitoring organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, for the evident war crimes they have committed against the Sunni civilians in different areas in Iraq, particularly in Falluja and Mosul.
The militia group is participating in Mosul offensive in the west of the city despite frequent calls of the Nineveh officials for their exclusion from the operation.

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