Hayder al Abadi declared victory over the terrorist group in northern Ninevah province, which is home to Tal Afar. Hundreds of Daesh militants who fled the town are now in nearby Al Ayadiya, where Iraqi forces are engaged in close quarters fighting.

The Iraqi army fires mortar shells at Daesh positions in Al Ayadiya, northwest of Tal Afar, Iraq, August 28, 2017. 
The Iraqi army fires mortar shells at Daesh positions in Al Ayadiya, northwest of Tal Afar, Iraq, August 28, 2017.  (Reuters)

Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder al Abadi on Thursday declared victory over Daesh in Tal Afar and the entire province of Nineveh.

"Tal Afar has been liberated," Abadi said in a statement. "We say to the Daesh fighters: wherever you are, we are coming for you and you have no choice but to surrender or die."

Many of those who were in Tal Afar have fled to nearby Al Ayadiya, were Iraqi army and Federal Police troops were battling holdouts in house-to-house fighting.

TRT World's Nicole Johnston is in the region and has this report.

'Street fight'

Hundreds of battle-hardened Daesh militants are holed up in Al Ayadiya, less than 100 kilometres west of Mosul, the former de facto Daesh capital in northern Iraq that was recaptured in July.

"Our soldiers now are engaging in a street fight with the militant group in Al Ayadiya,” Lieutenant General Qasim Nazzal said, adding that militants were barricaded inside "every single house and building."

Additional troops were sent there on Wednesday, as Iraqi forces came under increasing pressure to clear the militants from their final position in the group's former stronghold of Tal Afar, 11 kilometres (7 miles) to the southeast.

Families and relatives of Daesh militants are seen after they surrender themselves to Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Al Ayadiya, northwest of Tal Afar, Iraq, August 30, 2017.
Families and relatives of Daesh militants are seen after they surrender themselves to Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Al Ayadiya, northwest of Tal Afar, Iraq, August 30, 2017. (Reuters)

Civilians suffering in Tal Afar, Al Ayadiya

Tal Afar had a pre-war population of more than 200,000. 

Several thousand are believed to have fled in the weeks before the battle started. 

According to the UN, more than 30,000 had fled since April.

Many of them are suffering from a lack of basic needs, such as food, water and shelter.

For more on their plight, TRT World spoke to Melany Markham, media coordinator for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Duhok.

Daesh losing ground in Iraq

Tal Afar became the next target of the US- and Iran-backed war on Daesh following the recapture of Mosul where the group had declared its “caliphate” over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. 

After its ouster in July from Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, Daesh now controls only the city of Hawija, 300 km north of Baghdad and desert areas along the border with war-torn Syria.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies