What's holding up the liberation of Iraq's Tal Afar?
There are various accounts of why Tal Afar, Iraq, remains under the Islamic State's control despite the presence of armed forces ready and waiting to reclaim the city.
Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) has had the city of Tal Afar surrounded for months, awaiting approval to launch a siege against the Islamic State (IS). That approval, however, might never come for the controversial group.
Some officials are worried about what might happen if the largely Shiite PMU leads the liberation of the predominately Sunni Arab and Turkmen city, which has been under IS control since June 2014. There are different theories as to why no action has been taken yet.
Haider al-Tamimi, a PMU leader, told the media April 27 that the forces are on the periphery of Tal Afar, which is about 40 miles west of Mosul. But in a decision that could be more political than military, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said that for now they must not enter the city.
In fact, Abadi bluntly declared as far back as November, “The PMU will be excluded from the battle of Tal Afar, as the fighting will be entrusted to fighters from the city and the forces of the army.”
