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Hashd Shaabi militias say offensive toward Tal Afar started

The militias, collectively known as Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces, started moving in the direction of Tal Afar, a stronghold of Daesh west of Mosul, from their positions south of the city

Ersin Çelik
10:59 - 29/10/2016 Saturday
Update: 11:11 - 29/10/2016 Saturday
REUTERS

The Hashd Shaabi shiite militia said that they started an offensive on Saturday against Daesh positions west of Mosul, assisting in the campaign to take back the city.



The militias, collectively known as Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces, started moving in the direction of Tal Afar, a stronghold of Daesh west of Mosul, from their positions south of the city.



"The wounded city of Tal Afar (is among) the cities to be liberated," a statement from the Popular Mobilisation forces website said.





The operation will likely cause alarm in Ankara as Tal Afar is close to Turkey and has a sizeable ethnic Turkmen population.



Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoğlu said on Wednesday his country, which has troops deployed north of Mosul inside Iraqi territory, will take measures if there is an attack on Tel Afar.



Turkey fears the use of Shia militias in the U.S.-backed offensive on Mosul will lead to sectarian violence in the mainly Sunni region and cause an exodus of refugees.



'Serious human violations'


Amnesty International says that in previous campaigns, Shia militias have committed “serious human rights violations, including war crimes" against civilians fleeing Daesh-held territory.



The UN in July said it had a list of more than 640 Sunni Muslim men and boys reportedly abducted by Shia militias in Fallujah, and about 50 others who were summarily executed or tortured to death.



The government and the PMF say a limited number of violations had occurred and were investigated, but they deny abuses were widespread and systematic. No results of these investigations have ever been released, which is something the Human Rights Watch criticized last summer.



#Hashd Shaabi
#Tal Afar
#offensive
#Mosul
#Iraq
#Turkey
7 years ago