BAGHDAD, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Wednesday retook control of new areas from Islamic State (IS) militants on the outskirts of the city of Tal Afar in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, the Iraqi military said.
The Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces completely freed the southern part of Kifah neighborhood at the western edge of Tal Afar after about 24 hours of heavy clashes with the extremist militants, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a brief statement.
In the early morning, the federal police forces and the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units stormed the northern part of Kifah neighborhood and managed in the afternoon to liberate the area after defeating IS militants, Yarallah said in a separate statement.
Also in the day, the Iraqi army's 9th Armored Division and the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units liberated al-Tanak neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of the city and raised the Iraqi flag over some of its buildings, Yarallah added.
On Aug. 20, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, declared the start of an operation to retake control of Tal Afar and nearby areas from IS militants.
"We announce the launch of an operation to liberate Tal Afar. I say to Daesh (IS), either you surrender or die," Abadi said.
Tal Afar, some 70 km west of Mosul, is the last IS redoubt in the province of Nineveh.
The United Nation's International Organization for Migration estimates that some 10,000 to 40,000 people are still living in Tal Afar and surrounding areas.
Earlier, the army's Maj. Gen. Najim al-Jubouri, commander of Nineveh's Operations Command, told reporters that he estimated there were between 1,500 and 2,000 IS militants left in Tal Afar.
