ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Click to see the full-size map On Friday, the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) captured al-Sa’ad and Second al-Wihdah districts in Tal Afar town in northern Iraq. With this move, government forces besieged dozens of ISIS fighters in Baghlar, al-Nida’a and Karki districts in the center of Tal Afar town.  Follow Hassan Ridha   @sayed_ridha الفرقة 15 من الجيش العراقي وقطعات الحشد الشعبي تحرر مركز ناحية المحلبية جنوب-شرق تلعفر بالكامل، وتبدأ بتطهير المنازل 16:00 - 25 Aug 2017   1 1 Reply     3 3 Retweets     16 16 likes Twitter Ads information and privacy Furthermore, the Iraqi forces captured al-Mushirfah, Murishah, al-Akabat and Tal Alan al-Kabir villages near al-Muhilibiah town east of Tal Afar. The Iraqi forces also captured the following areas: Silo Tal Afar area in southwest of Tal Afar area; Al-Talia’a area in the center of Tal Afar area; Al-Qhabat area southeast of Tal Afar area. During its advance

On Friday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) captured the Grand mosque in Marawi city, according to AFP spokesperson Brigadier General Restituto Padilla Jr. The mosque was the main headquarter for ISIS fighters in Marawi city. “There were two very important operational achievements our troops were able to achieve over the last few days during this week.  One was the retaking of Marawi City Police Station, a significant development, a symbol of authority over the city, and it was located in the strategic point. And the retaking of this installation was part of our priorities. The second is the retaking of Marawi City’s grand mosque or the Islamic Center , an operation that allowed us to reach at this stage but took us almost a month before this was achieved. The clearing is still ongoing,” Padilla said. Moreover, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte visited the front line in Marawi city including the newly captured Grand mosque. Duterte even fired a shot from a sniper ri

FILE IMAGE On Friday, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) general commander, Hashem al-Shikh Abu Jaber, said during the Friday prayers speech in Binish village in the eastern Idlib countryside that HTS is ready to dissolve itself if all other armed groups in Idlib governorate do the same. “They told us you have first to dissolve Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, we said we are ready to dissolve the organization that was built as a tool not as an aim, under the condition that  other groups dissolve itself and follow a joint command ,” Abu Jaber said. The suggestion included forming a joint police force in Idlib governorate under the command of the HTS civilian administration. Opposition sources claimed that Turkey was behind the suggestion. In his speech, Abu Jaber also attacked Russia and the USA, and accused the whole word of working to end “the Syrian revolution”. HTS took over Idlib city on July 23. Since then HTS has been trying to establish itself as the only legitimate power in Idli