Iraq launches operation to take back IS-held town near Mosul

ABU GHADDUR, Iraq — U.S.-backed Iraqi forces on Sunday launched a multi-pronged assault to retake the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, marking the next phase in the country's war on the Islamic State group.Tal Afar and the surrounding area is one of the last pockets of IS-held territory in Iraq after victory was declared in July in Mosul, the country's second-largest city. The town, about 93 miles east of the Syrian border, sits along a major road that was once a key IS supply route."The c