Hashd al-Shaabi withdraw from Iraq’s Tal Afar

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD

The pro-government Hashd al-Shaabi militia on Wednesday withdrew from the predominantly Turkmen district of Tal Afar in northern Iraq, according to an Iraqi military officer.

"They pulled out of the area and handed over security to the local police,” Army Captain Karim al-Obeidi told Anadolu Agency.

“The Hashd al-Shaabi withdrew outside the city center in order to secure areas west of Mosul from Daesh-linked cells,” he said.

A largely Shia fighting force, the Hashd al-Shaabi was established in 2014 to fight the Daesh terrorist group, which overran much of Iraq earlier the same year.

In 2017, the Hashd al-Shaabi was formally incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces.

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled following operations backed by the U.S.-led International Alliance.

However, from time to time, Iraqi officials announce operations against Daesh-affiliated "sleeper cells" in certain parts of the country.