Iraqi Shi’ite militias say they have driven ISIL fighters from an air base west of Mosul.

The victory, if confirmed, would threaten the Sunni group’s supply route from Syria to its last major stronghold in Iraq.




#BREAKING: #PMF announce full liberation of #TalAfar airport after fierce clashes with #ISIS killing many of them #MosulOffensive pic.twitter.com/i5vKvuYPi5— Iraq Insider (@iraqinside) November 16, 2016






What is the strategic significance?





If confirmed, the capture could be a significant development in the campaign to recapture Mosul, ISIL’s de facto capital.

The group’s forces swept through Iraq in 2014 and set up a self-declared caliphate in a swathe of Syria and northern Iraq.





Tal Afar





The town lies around 60 kilometres west of Mosul on the main road to Syria.

Its seizure could also alarm Turkey, which is wary of Iraqi Shi’ite involvement in the civil war in Syria.





The Mosul campaign





While the Shi’ite coalition is fighting ISIL west of Mosul, regular army and police units are trying to advance from the other sides.

They are backed by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters deployed in the north and the east.

Iraqi counter-terrorism forces breached ISIL defences in eastern Mosul two weeks ago.

However, they have faced resistance from militants who have fought back with suicide car bombs, snipers and waves of counter-attacks.

The government forces have been fighting in a dozen of the estimated 60 neighbourhoods on the eastern part of Mosul, which is divided by the Tigris River.

They have yet to enter the town from the northern and southern sides.




Iraqi special forces begin new push deeper into the northern city of Mosul in fight against Islamic State group. https://t.co/NI32jl8Mir— The Associated Press (@AP) November 16, 2016






When did the campaign start?





On October the 17th.

Using air and ground support from a US-led coalition, it is the biggest military operation in Iraq in more than a decade, since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.





A springboard for Syria?





Popular mobilisation, known locally by its Arabic name, Hashid Shaabi, says it plans to use the Tal Afar air base to take the battle against ISIL into Syria.

The group will fight on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran.

Although it officially reports to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, it is mainly trained and equipped by Iran.





The prospect of sectarian strife





The advance towards Tal Afar has raised the prospect of sectarian strife.

It has also alarmed neighbouring Turkey.

The town had a mixed population of mainly Shi’ite and Sunni Turkmen before ISIL captured it in 2014.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that Turkey is reinforcing its troops on the border with Iraq and will respond if the militias “cause terror” in Tal Afar.

Iraq has sought to calm fears that the operation to recapture Tal