Iraqi Forces Break through ISIS Lines in Tal Afar

A handout picture released by the Iraqi Federal Police on August 15, 2017, shows Iraqi armored units headed for the town of Tal Afar. (AFP Photo)
A handout picture released by the Iraqi Federal Police on August 15, 2017, shows Iraqi armored units headed for the town of Tal Afar. (AFP Photo)
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Iraqi Forces Break through ISIS Lines in Tal Afar

A handout picture released by the Iraqi Federal Police on August 15, 2017, shows Iraqi armored units headed for the town of Tal Afar. (AFP Photo)
A handout picture released by the Iraqi Federal Police on August 15, 2017, shows Iraqi armored units headed for the town of Tal Afar. (AFP Photo)

Iraqi government forces broke through ISIS’ lines inside Tal Afar on Friday, reaching the old city center and the neighborhood around the Ottoman-era citadel, according to a military statement.

On the sixth day of the offensive, elite Iraqi units seized the northern neighborhoods of Nida', Taliaa, Uruba, Nasr, and Saad, according to a statement from the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC), Reuters said.

The Iraqi forces have seized about three quarters of the city since the offensive started in the early hours of Aug. 20, according to the latest JOC map, published on Friday evening.

In its turn, Agence France Presse quoted the JOC as saying in a statement that "the Iraqi flag has been hoisted in Nasr district.”

"The troops are now at the entrance to the district of the citadel," the JOC said.

Saad district was seized and forces were moving into Qadissiyah, it added.

After routing the militants from Iraq's second city Mosul in July following a grueling nine-month-long battle, Iraqi forces launched an assault Sunday on Tal Afar, where an estimated 1,000 terrorists are holed up.

The attackers have faced an onslaught of suicide and car bomb assaults.

The International Organization for Migration said "thousands of civilians" had fled Tal Afar since the offensive began.

But around 30,000 civilians are trapped by the fighting, according to the United Nations.



Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Israel closed all checkpoints to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Friday as the country attacked Iran, a military official said Friday.

The move sealed off entry and exit to the territory, meaning that Palestinians could not leave without special coordination.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military recommendations.

Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

With the world’s attention focused on Gaza, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have grown in size, frequency and intensity.

The crackdown has also left tens of thousands unemployed, as they can no longer work the mostly menial jobs in Israel that paid higher wages.

Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran on Friday that targeted its nuclear program and military sites, killing at least two top military officers and raising the prospect of an all-out war between the two bitter adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.

The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal. In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through.

Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that.