Iraqi MP:

US, Turkey Impeding Liberation of Tal Afar

Rasa - A senior Iraqi legislator blasted the US and Turkey for their antagonistic behavior towards efforts to liberate the city of Tal Afar in Nineveh province.

News ID: 429650

Date: 14 May 2017 - 23:40

RNA - Iskandar Watout, a member of the Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Committee, told reporters in a press conference that the process to take back Tal Afar is facing resistance and pressures by Turkey and the US.

He called on the Iraqi government not to become influenced by Turkey and the US or Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani and try to expel the Turkish forces from Iraq's soil.

Watout described Tal Afar as a vital and important city hosting tens of ISIL bases, and said, "Operations against the terrorist groups in Iraq should continue unstopped until full victory."

In relevant remarks in April, another Iraqi parliamentarian revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to hold back the Hashd al-Shaabi (Iraqi Mobilization) forces from any operation to liberate Tal Afar.

"Erdogan has in a message to Abadi warned that if Hashd al-Shaabi advances towards Tal Afar, the Turkish forces will also be deployed in the region," Nahleh al-Hababi was quoted as saying by al-Mouqef al-Iraqi news website.

The Iraqi legislator, meantime, underlined that Hashd al-Shaabi has surrounded Tal Afar region from several fronts and would play the main role in the liberation operation.

Also, last month, a senior commander of Hashd al-Shaabi underlined his forces' full preparedness to launch offensive against the ISIL bases in Tal Afar.

"Tal Afar is the ISIL's last base in Mosul. We have surrounded the city since several months ago," Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes said.

Stressing the importance of Tal Afar and its liberation, he said, "The Iraqi volunteer forces are fully ready to attack Tal Afar but the decision to start the attack is upon the General Command of the Armed Forces."

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