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Soldiers of the Hashd al-Sha'abi (Popular Mobilization Units) wave the victory sign onboard a pickup truck on their way to Tal Afar airport on November 20, 2016. (Photos by AFP) Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units have blocked the escape of around 200 Daesh terrorists who were attempting to flee the city of Tal Afar and enter Syria. On Monday, PMU spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi told reporters that the terrorists were using tanks in their attempt to escape Tal Afar, which is located to the west of Mosul. "The attack by the Daesh terrorist gangs started at around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT)” and lasted for around six hours, he said. PMU forces, also known as Hashd al-Sha'abi, have been stationed around Mosul since October 17, when Iraq launched massive operations to retake the city from Daesh. The coalition of anti-terror forces have so far fully liberated the eastern half of the flashpoint city -- home to more than one million people -- and are gearing up to liberate its western side.

This photo taken on November 7, 2016 shows Iraqi forces checking a body they pulled from a mass grave they discovered in Hamam al-Alil area after they recaptured it from the Daesh terrorist group during the ongoing operation to retake Mosul. (Photo by AFP) Iraqi soldiers have found two mass graves containing the bodies of people slaughtered by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group during the extremists’ control of a desert town west of the country. “The Iraqi army found two mass graves in Rutbah containing the bodies of members of the security forces and of civilians,” a captain in the army's 1st division said Thursday. Rutbah, a small town in Anbar Province, was retaken from Daesh in May last year. The military official said the graves could have been dug as soon as Daesh took control of the town in mid-2014 and began executing civilians and security forces to wreak havoc. The mayor of Rutba, situated about 390 kilometers west of Baghdad, said one of the graves was located in ce