Tal Afar Citadel
Telafer Kalesi
Tal Afar, Iraq
The Tal Afar Citadel in 2007
Coordinates36°22′32″N 42°27′16.7″E / 36.37556°N 42.454639°E / 36.37556; 42.454639
TypeCitadel
Site information
Controlled byIraq
Open to
the public		No
ConditionRuins
Site history
Built16th century
Built byOttoman Empire
FateDemolised by ISIL in 2015
Battles/warsBattle of Tal Afar (2005)
Battle of Tal Afar (2017)

The Tal Afar Citadel (Turkish: Telafer Kalesi)[1] is a citadel located in Tal Afar, a city in Nineveh Governorate in northwest Iraq. The citadel was built by the Ottoman Empire,[2] although it contains remains dating back to the Assyrian period.[3]

Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the citadel housed the mayoral, municipal and police headquarters of Tal Afar. It was used as a base by American forces in the Battle of Tal Afar in 2005.[2] Tal Afar fell to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in June 2014, and the militants used the citadel as a prison for women and girls who were to be forcibly married to ISIL members.[4]

In December 2014, ISIL blew up the city's northern and western walls, causing extensive damage.[5] The militants also excavated some of the ruins within the citadel, probably to look for antiquities which they could sell.[3] UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova strongly condemned the destruction of the citadel.[6] The citadel was recaptured by Iraqi forces during the battle to recapture Tal Afar in 2017.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Türkmeneli TV Tarihi Telafer Kalesi'nde". Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b Schlosser, Nicholas J. (August 2015). "The Pacification of Tal Afar". U.S. Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Extremist IS militants damage ancient citadel, two shrines in Iraq's Nineveh". Xinhua News Agency. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Iraq: ISIS executes at least 150 women for refusing to marry its militants". Al Akhbar. 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014.
  5. ^ Jones, Christopher (15 February 2015). "ISIS destroys several more sites in Mosul and Tal Afar". Gates of Nineveh. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  6. ^ "UNESCO Director-General strongly condemns attacks at ancient site of Tel Afar in Iraq". UNESCO. 7 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2 March 2015.
  7. ^ "Iraqi fighters retake historic city from ISIS". The Straits Times. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
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