Escorted to safety<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Iraqi forces are escorting civilians to safety on the eastern outskirts of Mosul.<br /><br /> Carrying what they can, the vulnerable and elderly are streaming out of the area.<br /><br /> ISIL militants have been steadily retreating from areas around Mosul into the city since the battle started on October 17, with air and ground support from a U.S.-led coalition.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Tal Afar<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have fled Tal Afar as Shi’ite paramilitary groups close in on the ISIL-held town on the road between Mosul and Raqqa.<br /><br /> These are the two main cities of the militant group’s self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The strategy<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Popular Mobiliation units, a coalition of mostly Iranian-trained and backed militias, are trying to encircle Tal Afar, a mostly ethnic Turkmen town.<br /><br /> It is part of the offensive to capture Mosul, the last major city stronghold of ISIL in Iraq.<br /><br /> The offensive started on October the 17th, with air and ground support from a US-led coalition.<br /><br /> It is turning into the most complex campaign in Iraq since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and empowered the nation’s Shi’ite majority.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Humanitarian concerns<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The exodus from Tal Afar, 60km west of Mosul, is causing concern among humanitarian organisations.<br /><br /> Officials say some of those fleeing are heading deeper into insurgents territory, where aid cannot be sent to them.<br /><br /> Around 3,000 families have left the town. <br /><br /> Around half are heading southwest towards Syria<br /><br /> The other half are heading northward into Kurdish-held territory, according to Nuraldin Qablan, a Tal Afar representative in the Nineveh provincial council.<br /><br /> ISIL started on Sunday evening to allow people to leave after it fired mortars at Popular Mobilisation positions at the airport south of the city.<br /><br /> Popular Mobilisation forces responded, he added.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> A young girl stands with other displaced Iraqis on the back of the truck that helped them escape #Mosul. They're en route to an IDP camp. pic.twitter.com/Nd1tEvRxa8— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) November 21, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> More than 68,000 people are registered as displaced because of the fighting, according to UN estimates.<br /><br /> The figure does not include the thousands of people reportedly rounded up in villages around Mosul and forced to accompany ISIL fighters to cover their retreat towards the city.<br /><br /> It also does not include the 3,000 families which have fled Tal Afar.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> A question of ethnicity<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The people fleeing from Tal Afar are from the Sunni community, which makes up a majority in the Nineveh province in and around Mosul.<br /><br /> The town also had a Shi’ite community which fled in 2014 when the hardline Sunni group swept through the region.<br /><br /> Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has tried to allay fears of ethnic and sectarian killings in Tal Afar.<br /><br /> He has said any force sent to recapture the city would reflect its diversity.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The latest on Mosul<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> A Mosul r
