Iraqi forces have made significant progress as they close in on Tal Afar, a town west of Mosul held by the banned Islamic State (IS), the US-led coalition said Monday.
US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, a coalition spokesman, told The Associated Press that Iraqi forces have retaken 250 square kilometres from the extremist group, though they have not yet pushed into the town itself.
“As we get into the urban areas as we saw in Mosul and Raqqa that’s where we’ll see the pace slow down, that’s where IS have placed their defences,” he said.
US-backed Iraqi forces drove IS from Mosul last month after a gruelling, nine-month campaign to retake the country’s second-largest city.
