Tal Afar
Encyclopedia
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: Telafer) is a city and district in northwestern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in the Ninawa Governorate
Ninawa Governorate
Ninawa is a governorate in northern Iraq, and the Arabic name for the biblical city of Nineveh in Assyria. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people in 2003. Its chief city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient...
located approximately 30 miles west of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
and 120 miles north west of Kirkuk
Kirkuk
Kirkuk is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.It is located in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Baghdad...
.
While no official census data exists, the city which had been assessed to have a population of approximately 200,000, had dropped to 80,000 as of 2007, nearly all of whom are Iraqi Turkmen
Iraqi Turkmen
The Iraqi Turkmen are an ethnic group who mainly reside in northern Iraq. Estimates of their numbers vary dramatically, in accordance with Iraq's assimilation policies no realistic and independent census results have been revealed regarding the Iraqi Turkmen population...
. In Tal’Afar itself, the population is mostly Turkomen, about 75 percent of whom are Sunni Muslims, while a quarter are Shi’ites. While most residents speak Arabic, a dialect of Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
is regularly used throughout the city.
History
10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southwest of the town of Tal Afar are the mounds of Yarim Tepe which yielded remains from the Halafian culture from the HassunaHassuna
Hassuna or Tell Hassuna is an ancient Mesopotamian site situated in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq west of the Tigris river, south of Mosul and about 35 km southwest of Nineveh.-History:...
, Halaf
Tell Halaf
Tell Halaf is an archaeological site in the Al Hasakah governorate of northeastern Syria, near the Turkish border, just opposite Ceylanpınar. It was the first find of a Neolithic culture, subsequently dubbed the Halaf culture, characterized by glazed pottery painted with geometric and animal designs...
and Ubaid
Ubaid period
The Ubaid period is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The tell of al-`Ubaid west of nearby Ur in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate has given its name to the prehistoric Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic culture, which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain of southern...
periods, between 7,000 and 4,500 BC.
Tel Afar has been thought to be a city mentioned in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, Telassar
Telassar
Telassar is mentioned twice in the Bible. First at 2nd Kings 19:12 , and secondly at Isaiah 37:12....
or Thela'sar, mentioned in 2 Kings 19:12 and in Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
37:12 as a city inhabited by "the children of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
" which had been conquered and was held at the time of the Sennacherib
Sennacherib
Sennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
by the Assyrians.
Austen Henry Layard
Austen Henry Layard
Sir Austen Henry Layard GCB, PC was a British traveller, archaeologist, cuneiformist, art historian, draughtsman, collector, author, politician and diplomat, best known as the excavator of Nimrud.-Family:...
visited Tal Afar and wrote about his experience there in several of his books. In Nineveh and its remains published in 1867, Layard writes:
“After Hafiz Pasha’s expedition in 1837 Tall ‘Afar was occupied permanently by Turkish troops and started to be used as a base to control the movements of a number of the Yazidi tribes of eastern Sinjar. In the 1880s Tall ‘Afar became an administrative unit depending on the Sinjar
Sinjar
Sinjar is the name of a town and district in northwestern Iraq's Ninawa Governorate near the Syrian border. Its population at the time of the 2006 census was 39,875....
qadha.”
In 1920, Tal Afar was used as a base of operations for a planned revolt
Iraqi revolt against the British
The Iraqi Revolt against the British , or the Great Iraqi Revolution of 1920, started in Baghdad in the summer of 1920 with mass demonstrations of both Sunni and Shia, including protests by embittered officers from the old Ottoman army, against the policies of British Acting Civil Commissioner Sir...
against the then ruling British.
Sometime during the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, the Ottoman Turkish Army founded the city as a sole military outpost constructed on top of a hill. Remains of the fortress can still be seen today. Also garrisoned at the fortress were Turkmen members of the Daloodi tribe who following the withdrawal of the Ottoman Army became the first civilian occupants of the town build around the fortress.
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Tal Afar was included in Iraq.
Geography
- Tal Afar is located at coordinate 36°23′N 42°27′E
- According to map data, Tal Afar has a total area of 15 km²
- Tal Afar is located approximately 30 miles west of MosulMosulMosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
. - Tal Afar is located approximately 60 km (37.3 mi) east of the Iraqi-Syrian border.
The city is located in an open desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
plain at the southern base of the Aedea Mountains. Much of the terrain surrounding the city is flat desert. A major east-west highway runs through the city, which spans the Ninawa Governorate
Ninawa Governorate
Ninawa is a governorate in northern Iraq, and the Arabic name for the biblical city of Nineveh in Assyria. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people in 2003. Its chief city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient...
and intersects Iraq’s main central north-south highway near Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
.
Tal Afar is organized into eighteen neighborhoods or districts. They are: Sa'ad, Qadisiyah, Todd A-O, Sarai, Mohalemeen, Madlomin, Uruba, Wahada, Nida, A'a lot, Hassan Qoi, Mothana, Khadra, Jazeera, Taliha, Kifah, Malain and Qalah.
Each neighborhood is able to maintain its identity due to the tribal nature of the city. Several dozen extended families living in close proximity will typically identify with one local sheik who takes it upon himself to serve as steward of neighborhood’s citizens and liaison to the local government. The layout of the town consists of densely-packed buildings often constructed so closely to each other that they share common load-bearing walls and supports. The city streets further physically define each neighborhood by separating it from other groups of buildings since they cut through the town in irregular patterns.
The United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and local government have recently implemented a home address system to better identify specific locations and define jurisdiction for the Iraqi Police
Iraqi Police
The Iraqi Police Service are the uniformed Territorial police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law within Iraq.The current organisation, structure and recruitment practice was guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority following the 2003 invasion of Iraq...
.
Demographically, Tal Afar is isolated from many of the surrounding towns and villages because of its Iraqi Turkmen population. Many persons to the west identify themselves as Yezidi and to the south and east Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
.
Economy
As of January 2007, the largest single employer in the city was the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior which has hired roughly 2,250 policemenIraqi Police
The Iraqi Police Service are the uniformed Territorial police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law within Iraq.The current organisation, structure and recruitment practice was guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority following the 2003 invasion of Iraq...
. The second-largest employer is the United States government. The 101st Airborne
101st Airborne Division (United States)
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
3rd Brigade was stationed at Tal Afar Airbase in 2003-04 and its 1st Battalion was stationed in the town proper.
Important industries in the region include agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, especially the harvesting of wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
which historically has been processed at the city’s state-run granary, and the production of cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
and macadam
Macadam
Macadam is a type of road construction pioneered by the Scotsman John Loudon McAdam in around 1820. The method simplified what had been considered state-of-the-art at that point...
.
Unemployment was estimated to be at levels as high as 80% as of August 2006.
Health
There is only one hospital in Tal-Afar which is Tal-Afar General Hospital in addition to Tal-Afar Health Sector which includes 6 health centres (clinics) inside Tal-Afar, and other clinics in the periphery.Landmarks
Located in the center of the city are the remnants of what is believed to be an Ottoman Empire fortress or castle. Local history states that British administrators augmented the structure of the original fortress. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, the fortress was further augmented and made to house the city’s mayoral, municipal and police headquarters.
The neighborhood including and surrounding the fortress is known as Qalah (phonetic) or “Castle”.
Culture and society
Nearly all residents identify themselves as Iraqi Turkmen and share many similarities with Azeri culture. Strong family ties exist between residents of the city and relatives in Turkey.Arab culture is also present and many residents don traditional Arab dishdashas and checkered headscarves. Western-style clothing is also common.
Cuisine found in the city is similar to meals prepared in Arab/Turkish culture including unseasoned grilled lamb and beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
, unleavened bread
Unleavened Bread
Unleavened Bread is a 1900 novel by American writer Robert Grant....
, rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
-based soups and indigenous vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, raisins, cucumbers, etc.
Approximately twenty families live in the city whom identify themselves as Kurdish or Yezidi.
Politics and government
Tal Afar’s local government consists of a city council, local sheiks and a mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
. The mayor is appointed by the council of sheiks and confirmed by the provincial regional administrator. The mayor need not be originally from the city nor Iraqi Turkmen. As of January 2007, the present mayor (and former General) is Mayor Najim, a Sunni Arab originally from Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. His wife, notably, is a Shia Arab.
The Iraqi Turkmen demographic of Tal Afar and its geographic location have made it an important city in the argument of Iraqi federalism. Historically, the area in the vicinity of the city was populated by Kurds and considered part of Kurdistan. Following a program of “Arabization
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
” initiated by Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
in the 1970s, large numbers of Sunni Arabs supportive of the Baathist government were moved into areas around Tal Afar in an effort to decrease the influence of Iraqi Kurds. Geographically, the region the city is located in a border area separating Kurdish lands to the north and Arab lands to the south in the al-Anbar province.
Were it not for the high population of Iraqi Turkmen, the region would most likely be absorbed by the Kurdish Autonomous Region
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
based in Arbil
Arbil
Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...
. Many Iraqi Turkmen resist this happening because of historic differences with the Kurds.
Role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq
During the Iraq War in 2003, insurgentsIraqi insurgency
The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...
used Tal Afar as a staging point for attacks.
Operation Black Typhoon
On September 9, 2004, a major military operation was launched against Tal Afar by the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) and Iraqi Security forces. Fighting continued until September 12, 2004 when the government of TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
claimed that the fighting had taken the lives of approximately 58 ethnic Turkmen civilians and demanded an end to military operations at which time the civilians camped outside Tal Afar were allowed to return to their homes. American forces defeated the insurgents and left about 500 troops in the city. However, Iraqi authorities lost control of the city in May 2005, and insurgents began taking over again. A military operation in June 2005 did not quell the violence.
On the 8th and 10 December 2004, an Australian Army patrol, 3 Troop, a squadron of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, and members of the Australian Army Training Team - 2 (AATTI-2) was ambushed by insurgents using small arms
Small arms
Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
and rocket-propelled grenades. A firefight between the two forces broke out resulting in KIA
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
s and WIA
Wounded in action
Wounded in action describes soldiers who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during war time, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight....
s to the Iraqi resistance and no injuries or damage to the Australian patrol.
On January 18, 2005, a family of eight were travelling in a car which failed to stop at a US checkpoint in Tal Afar. US troops opened fire, killing both parents, Camille and Hussein Hassan, and injuring their five children sitting in the back seat. Racan, 11, was seriously wounded in the abdomen. He lost the use of his legs and was treated later in Boston. Getty Images
Getty Images
Getty Images, Inc. is a stock photo agency, based in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is a supplier of stock images for business and consumers with an archive of 80 million still images and illustrations and more than 50,000 hours of stock film footage...
photographer Chris Hondros
Chris Hondros
Chris Hondros was an American Pulitzer Prize-nominated war photographer.-Biography:Chris Hondros was born in New York City to immigrant Greek and German parents who were child refugees after World War II...
, who was on the scene, took graphic pictures of the shooting and aftermath. Hondros won several awards for the still photos.
Tal Afar has also been the scene of sectarian violence
Sectarian violence in Iraq
Following the U.S.-launched 2003 invasion of Iraq, the situation deteriorated, and by 2007, the conflict between Iraqi Sunni and Shi'a factions was described by the National Intelligence Estimate as having elements of a civil war. In a January 10, 2007 address to the American people, President...
between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. In May 2005, clashes broke out between the two groups.
Operation Restoring Rights
In September 2005, Operation Restoring Rights was conducted in which approximately 5,000 soldiers from the 3rd Division of the Iraqi Security Force in conjunction with 3,500 troops from the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division entered the city. The operation resulted in 157 insurgents being killed and 683 captured. Iraqi Security Forces suffered 12 killed and 27 wounded. The operation lasted until October and resulted in 10,000 pounds of explosives being uncovered and destroyed.Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh was a Jordanian militant Islamist who ran a paramilitary training camp in Afghanistan...
accused the American military of using "poisonous gases" on Tal Afar in an audiotape received and posted on an Islamic website. The United States denied using chemical weapons in Tal Afar saying such the reports were propaganda created by Abu-Mus’ab al-Zarqawi and were false and without merit. There was an incident in which US troops wore gas masks after discovering chlorine-based chemicals.
The operation tested a new strategy of "clear, hold, build", in which areas would be purged of insurgents and then occupied and then rebuilt to win support from local people before being handed over to the Iraqi security forces. An ambitious reconstruction effort was immediately implemented. New sewers
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
were dug and the fronts of shops, destroyed in the assault, were replaced within weeks. Numerous police stations were built or rebuilt in the town by an Anglo-American construction team led by Huw Thomas.
In March 2006, U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
pointed to Tal Afar as a success story, where one could "see the outlines of the Iraq we've been fighting for". The operation was consider one of the first successful counterinsurgency operations in Iraq. Colonel H.R. McMaster, commander of the operation became an advisor to General David Petraeus in the planning and execution of the 2007 troop surge
Iraq War troop surge of 2007
In the context of the Iraq War, the surge refers to United States President George W. Bush's 2007 increase in the number of American troops in order to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province....
.
However, after years of intermittent violence, some commentators have said that the optimism expressed in 2005 was overstated.
Continuing violence
In October 2006, a bombing in Tal Afar killed 14 people, of whom ten were civilians and four Iraqi soldiers. An additional bombing, outside a car dealership, on November 24, 2006, killed at least 22 and wounded at least 26.On February 10, 2007 a suicide car bomber killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded five people, including three civilians, as it targeted an army checkpoint.
On February 22, 2007 four people were killed, including a policeman and a 12 year-old boy, and five were wounded, including two policemen, when two booby-trapped houses detonated while police were searching homes. During the search, a policeman shot and killed a suspect and wounded two others. Police had already reported the death of one policeman.
On March 24, 2007 a suicide bomber in a market in the town of Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq killed eight people and wounded 10.
On March 27, 2007, a truck bomb exploded in a market
2007 Tal Afar bombings and massacre
The 2007 Tal Afar bombings took place on March 27, 2007, when two truck bombs targeted Shia areas of the town of Tal Afar, Iraq, killing 152 and wounding 347 people.-External links:*...
in a Shiite area. It was first reported to have killed 83 people and wounded 183, but the Iraqi Interior Ministry later raised the death toll to 152 and said that 347 were wounded, which would make it the deadliest single strike since the war started. The explosion, for which a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda claimed responsibility, led to reprisal shootings by Shiite policemen and others against Sunnis, in which between 47 and 70 men were killed. Several Shiite policemen were arrested for taking part in the shootings.
On April 14, 2007 a sniper shot dead a woman.
On May 21, 2007, a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, wounding three policemen on the main road between the town of Sinjar and Tal Afar.
On May 31, 2007, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded four policemen on the road between Sinjar and Tal Afar. In a separate incident a roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed an officer and wounded another soldier in Tal Afar. In another separate incident a man was killed in a rocket attack.
On June 11, 2007 two people were killed and five wounded by a Katyusha rocket attack.
On June 19, 2007 a woman and a child were killed by a mortar attack in the town of Tal Afar.
On July 12, 2007, seven guests celebrating the wedding of an Iraqi policeman were killed on Thursday by a suicide bomber.
On July 15, 2007 two civilians were killed and three wounded by a roadside bomb.
On August 6, 2007, a car bomb killed 27 and wounded 28 people in the village of al-Guba near Tal Afar.
On August 22, 2007, a roadside bomb exploded near workers laying water pipes, killing two and wounding five.
On September 16, 2007 at least two policemen were wounded by a roadside bomb in the centre of the town.
On September 22, 2007 one insurgent was killed and another wounded when a bomb they were making exploded.
On September 24, 2007 a suicide truck bomb killed at least six people, including two policemen and a soldier, and wounded 17 in an attack on a checkpoint near a village between Tal Afar and Mosul.
On October 4, 2007, a suicide car bomber killed three people and wounded 57 in a market.
On October 10, 2007 a Katyusha rocket landed on a house, killing five members of the same family and wounding five others.
On December 29, 2007 police killed five insurgents and detained five others.
On January 3, 2008 two civilians, including one child, died when U.S. forces returned fire after a roadside bomb struck a convoy that included the police chief.
On January 19, 2008 a rocket attack killed seven people and wounded 20.,
On February 15, 2008 at least three people were killed and 16 wounded in a double suicide bombing. After a police officer guarding a mosque prevented a bomber from entering the building, the attacker tried to throw a hand grenade and then detonated the explosive vest he was wearing. A few minutes later, another bomber ran toward a group of worshipers and blew himself up as police opened fire.
On February 20, 2008 a suicide car bomber killed a woman and a 6-year-old girl and wounded eight in an attack on an identity cards office.
On March 2, 2008 clashes between gunmen and police killed 13 gunmen and two policemen in a village near the town of Tal Afar.
On April 14, 2008 an attacker wearing a suicide vest blew himself up at a Shi'ite funeral, killing four civilians and wounding 22.
On May 27, 2008 four people were killed and 46 wounded, including two children, when a parked car bomb blew up in a market the town's mayor, Major-General Najim Abdullah said.
On July 8, 2008 gunmen killed a member of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Islamic party, police said.
On July 12, 2008 police found the bodies of seven people, including a woman and a child, the town's mayor, Major-General Najim Abdullah, said. They had been kidnapped two days before.
On July 17, 2008 a car bomb exploded in a street market killing 20 people, including 9 children, and wounding 90.
On July 31, 2008 a roadside bomb killed a policeman, police said.
On August 8, 2008 a lone Sunni Turkoman suicide bomber (initial reports said a parked car) exploded in a vegetable market killing 25 people and injuring about 70.,
On August 29, 2008 policemen killed a would-be suicide bomber who tried to enter a mosque.
On September 6, 2008 a car bomb exploded near shops and cafes killing at least six people and wounding at least 50.
On September 17, 2008 a roadside bomb wounded four civilians.
On September 18, 2008 two roadside bombs wounded nine civilians.
On September 20, 2008 a suicide car bomb attack near a football playground killed two people and left 18 wounded.
On November 15, 2008 a car bomb exploded and killed 10 people and injured 31 more.
On December 2, 2008 a suicide car bomb exploded at a police checkpoint killing five people and wounding 30.
On February 6, 2009 gunmen in a moving car opened fire and killed two civilians, police said.
On March 23, 2009 a suicide bomber killed an off-duty police officer and wounded five civilians, according to police.
On July 9, 2009 33 people were killed by two suspected suicide bomb attacks
9 July 2009 Tal Afar bombing
The 9 July 2009 Tal Afar bombing was a double suicide bombing which occurred in Tal Afar, Iraq in July 2009. The bombing occurred when two men detonated explosive vests....
. Police report injuries of more than 70.
On September 17, 2009 a suicide bomber drove a truck into a police checkpoint, killing three civilians and wounding three policeman.
On September 28, 2009, two suspected insurgents were killed and a third was wounded in an explosives accident.
On October 16, 2009, a gunman opened fire and then detonated a suicide belt, killing 15 and injuring 100 during Friday Prayer inside the Taqua Mosque, which is attended primarily by Sunni Muslims.
On Friday, 14 May 2010, an attacker detonated explosives hidden inside a vehicle at the entrance to the football stadium in Tal Afar that killed 10 people and injured 120 others. Earlier, the militant umbrella group, the Islamic State of Iraq, warned Shiites of "dark days soaked with blood". "What is happening to you nowadays is just a drizzle," said Al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman, the group's so-called minister of war.
External links
- Iraq Image - Tal Afar Satellite Observation
- "Troops blitz Iraq's 'funnel of death'" (The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, Sept. 11, 2005) - "Iraqis in former rebel stronghold now cheer American soldiers" (The Daily Telegraph, Dec. 19, 2005)
- "Bomber attacks 'model Iraqi city'" (BBC News, Oct. 7, 2006)
- TIME Magazine Photo Essay of Operation Restoring Rights
- District map of Tal Afar
- Tall 'Afar at Global Security