Iraqi forces, tribesmen foil attack

Iraqi security forces and local tribesmen have foiled an attack by militants of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in a strategic city in Nineveh province.

According to AFP on Sunday, at least 18 militants belonging to the so-called ISIL were killed and five vehicles destroyed after the attack on Tal Afar was repelled.

Militants from the al-Qaeda-linked group also fired mortar shells on different parts of Tal Afar, killing at least 10 civilians and injuring dozens of others.

According to local officials, some 8000 tribal fighters have joined the fight against the Takfiri militants in Nineveh.

“Youths from the tribes are doing joint patrols with Iraqi security forces inside and outside the city of Tal Afar to counter any possible attack from ISIL,” Turkey’s Anadolu Agency quoted an unnamed tribal source as saying.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi government spokesman said that nearly 300 terrorists have been killed in clashes with Iraqi forces over the past 24 hours.

Army forces are now pushing the militants back from the areas they had captured.