BAGHDAD, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Saturday liberated three neighborhoods from Islamic State (IS) militants in the city of Tal Afar, the Iraqi military said.
The federal police forces and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units recaptured the neighborhoods of Qadsiyah Oula, Qadsiyah Thaniyah in northern the city and al-Rabie neighborhood in west of the central part of Tal Afar, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a brief statement.
By the recapture of the three neighborhoods, the federal police and its elite forces, known as Rapid Response, have ended their part within the offensive to free Tal Afar from IS militants, according to the statement.
The latest advance of the federal police brought the number of neighborhoods liberated from IS group by the security forces to 19.
Until Friday night, the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces, Iraqi army, federal police and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units have managed to free a total of 16 neighborhoods and brought the troops to the city center, according to an earlier statement by Yarallah.
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.
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.
