A video screengrab shows PM Haider al-Abadi announcing the start of ops in Tal Afar

Iraqi forces on Sunday launched an assault to retake the northern city of Tal Afar from the IS, after ousting the jihadis from Mosul last month. In a televised speech early yesterday, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, dressed in military uniform and standing in front of an Iraqi flag and map of the country, announced "the start of an operation to free Tal Afar".