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IRAQI PARAMILITARIES LAUNCHED an operation today to retake the town of Tal Afar from the Islamic State group and cut jihadist supply lines from Mosul to Syria, a spokesman said.
Forces from the Hashed al-Shaabi, a paramilitary umbrella organisation dominated by Iran-backed Shiite militias, have largely been on the sidelines since the operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State group was launched last week.
“The operation aims to cut supplies between Mosul and Raqa and tighten the siege of (IS) in Mosul and liberate Tal Afar,” Hashed spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi told AFP, referring to IS’s main strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
Assadi said the operation aimed to retake the towns of Hatra and Tal Abta as well as Tal Afar, Assadi said.
Tense relations
The operation could bring the fighting perilously close to the ancient city of Hatra, located northeast of the town of the same name, a UNESCO world heritage site that has already been vandalised by IS.
The involvement of Shiite militias in the Mosul operation has been a source of contention, although some of the Hashed’s top commanders insist they do not plan to enter the largely Sunni city.
Iraqi Kurds and Sunni Arab politicians have opposed their involvement, as has Turkey, which has a military presence east of Mosul despite repeated demands by Baghdad for the forces to be withdrawn.
Relations between the Hashed and the US-led coalition fighting IS are also tense, but the paramilitaries enjoy widespread support among members of Iraq’s Shiite majority.
Tal Afar was a Shiite-majority town before the Sunni extremists of IS overran it in 2014, and its recapture is a main goal of Shiite militia forces.
IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground and Mosul is the last big city held by the jihadists in the country.
- © AFP 2016.
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Did they ever find out who made the 3636 calls from Leinster house which cost €2600,
Which helped Michael Healy-Rae win that reality TV show?????….
It’s a mystery that will never be solved…
Did his father not hold the country to ransom to get the hospital in Kerry
Whats wrong with getting a hospital for the people you repersent
There is a problem getting a hospital & many other things that were badly needed in other areas that had serious problems. The Healy – Raes always only thought about number one- themselves !
Fairness Francis.
Short term gain long term loss Francis.
Peter if all our politisions repersented the people that voted for them instead of looking after there friends and the ALMIGHTY PARTY then this country would be a much nicer place to live and we all might get a slice of the cake instead of the crumbs
Francis the one thing wrong with our political system is parish politics.if you can’t see why you’re a lost cause
It’s just like being in a busy bar trying to get a drink. The waiter has limited time to serve and he who shouts the loudest gets served.
The ultimate attention seeker – there’s something about that guy that just doesn’t ring true
That picture of them at the protest could simply have the caption: “Ireland”
Ireland circa 1950!
“My car is falling asunder from the height of tearing here and tearing there, but that’s fine.” said Michael Healy Rae as he cashed his €4478,75 cheque for 12 days in the Dail.
Shameful.
Healy-ray & proven fraudster Lowry are both guilty of the most monstrous self serving parish pump politics getting a few scraps to keep bertie/FF on their power trip, healy-ray got a few sweeties for Kerry while the rest of us got national bankruptcy as a result, well done J.H-R.
And where that leaves tony gregory of course thats Dublin dont do parish pump politics in dublin
Tony Gregory was the slicker urban version of Healy Rae.
Same lot who said having a few pints and driving home is grand and driving down the back arse of beyond too.
Its the blood/alcohol reading that counts. All Healy Rae was looking for was the limit to be the same for a van as a car which I can’t see any problem with. How the fukc can you be under the limit for driving a car yet more than twice over the limit for the same model in a van? The RSA are the real idiots.
There are different rates of allowable blood alcohol if you are driving a van rather than a car? What are they?
He’d want to change that car alright if its taking 2 1/2 hours to get to a meeting ;)
@Mark,
Massey Ferguson’s aren’t known for their speed…but the tax is cheaper and can run on green diesel.
Has it a valid NCT cert since its in such bad order…. TDs regard any car over 3 years old as bangers..
A typical Dail waster. Out for himself and got caught fiddling the tax payer, like father like son. Media mungrels.
Cute hoooor , him and his old man. Parish pump politics is alive and well.
No dope
Got the people of south kerry to elect them on several occasions
If all the politions were doing their jobs as well as the Healy rates we wouldn’t be in the mess we are today
Theme music to Dallas comes to mind
The Healy Raes are stage Irishmen at their best, and people see nothing wrong with it. Did they not want special exemption for drunken drivers in their area also-some of them must have a pub.And is the accent put on ?
If he wasn’t a TD I’m sure a job could be found for him at the family plant hire business, Ran by his brother Danny and nephew Johnny (both Kerry CoCo councillors) who got over 300k in contracts from Kerry County Council.
no vendetta everyone just though he was an idiot thats all
Or, if he wasn’t a TD, he could be a County Councillor, where him and his brother (Danny, again) claimed a combined €196k in pay and expenses in 2008/2009 (the plant hire company had got 600k+ in contracts from Kerry CoCo in 2008)
His father propped up a crooked government by demanding hundreds of millions be spent on what are really needless vanity projects in Kerry.
The bypass in Castle Island must be great for all the young Kerry people leaving to work in Cork, Dublin or abroad.
They are not the Kennedy’s you know…
All the parties seem to smell April blood and are electioneering already?
Parish pump politics has this country wrecked for years, but to be fair I would blame the system and not those who are adept at playing it. I always thought we were getting reform from the current Government to sort this but wechavent
Nothing new from Kerry but they’ve just played the same game as every other politician.Their just more flamboyant than most.
have your say