By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

Iraqi Army, backed by Hashed al-Shaabi forces and Iranian military advisors, have begun an operation to liberate Tal Afar from the ISIL terrorists who have been in control of the city since 2014.
The offensive against the last major bastion of ISIL follows their success in liberating Mosul in July. Tal Afar, about 45 miles west of Mosul, is a much smaller city but is one of the last pockets of territory in Iraq held by the foreign-backed terrorists - who also face assaults on their last remaining positions in neighboring Syria.
Capturing Tal Afar would be another major blow to ISIL’s self-declared "caliphate” that once controlled large areas straddling Syria and Iraq. So far, the forces have retaken several villages on the western front, while Hashed says its fighters have also advanced to the edges of Tal Afar’s western suburbs.
Unsurprisingly, "fakestream” media outlets in the West once again claim the battle for Tal Afar has sparked fears for thousands of civilians trapped inside – just as they did claim during the battle for Mosul. This is while UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande says thousands of families have safely walked for hours in extreme heat to escape Tal Afar, which was running out of food and water. The UN says up to 40,000 people have already fled the area of fighting, without reporting any civilian casualties.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the offensive in a pre-dawn televised speech Sunday, warning ISIL terrorists that they had "no choice other than to leave or be killed.” He also said "we have won all our battles, and Daesh have always lost.” Obviously, this is not a battle against the people of Tal Afar; it’s a battle against those who terrorized its people for over three years.
No one knows how many civilians are still left in the area where there is fighting, but the government and aid agencies are preparing for thousands more to flee in the coming days and weeks. There might be a flood of refugees from the Tal Afar region, but the"fakestream” media in the West doesn’t need to raise the alarms. As always, the government has what it takes to protect civilians in the battle zone. It has already dropped leaflets over the city, advising remaining residents of the impending maneuvers.
Per usual, U.S. politicians, pundits and generals will speak about "progress” made by the coalition forces put into Tal Afar, however the hard and awful true reality is that their airstrikes will only result in civilian casualties, never liberating or protecting. On the same token, whatever President Trump announces about the battle for Tal Afar, in particular its liberation, we can be assured the lies about America’s deadly contribution in Iraq will continue. Similarly, any progress in defeating ISIL in Syria has been found to be near non-existent despite the unnecessary escalation in places like Raqqa.
The world will also hear how the U.S. military has done great things for the Tal Afar people. Whatever the U.S. announces about the ongoing battle in the coming days and weeks, we can be assured the lies about U.S. "progress” in Iraq will continue, along with the lies about America’s commitment to human rights and democratic values, the profits of the military-industrial complex, and the suffering of the Iraqi people – just like their Syrian counterparts.