Anti-Isil offensives: Soldiers fighting terror show solidarity with Barcelona victims as Tal Afar assault begins

Jubilant Lebanese forces staged a show of solidarity for the victims of the Barcelona terror attack on Sunday, waving the flags of both Spain and Lebanon over captured Isil positions on the Syrian border. 

The UK and US-backed forces killed 20 militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil), capturing a third of their territory from areas on the border with Syria, according to a Lebanese military spokesman.

The fighting, which left three Lebanese soldiers dead, has been coordinated with an offensive on the other side of the border against Isil by the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

The assault in Syria came as the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi launched a new offensive against Isil in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, one of the extremists' last remaining strongholds.

"You either surrender, or die," he warned in a televised eve-of-battle speech.

The Tal Afar offensive comes just weeks after Isil was ousted from its symbolic stronghold and 'second capital' of Mosul by a brutal campaign from Iraqi forces which left the centre of the city in ruins. 

Iraqi forces around Tal Afar began attacking Isil positions from three sides at dawn yesterday, while Shia militia fought south of the city and Kurdish Peshmerga troops in the north.

Standing in front of the Iraqi flag and wearing military fatigues, Mr al-Abadi announced that "Zero Hour" had arrived for the Islamic State which is rapidly losing its grip over its so-called "caliphate".

"We have won all our battles, and Daesh have always lost," he said, using an alternative name for the terror group.

"The entire world is with you," Mr al-Abadi told the troops. 

Several hours after the battle began, the federal police said it had retaken the village of Al-Abra Al-Sghira west of Tal Afar.

The US-led coalition fighting Isil in Iraq and Syria welcomed the start of the offensive and pledged support to Iraqi forces involved.

Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, the head of the anti-Isil coalition, said the operation in Tal Afar is "another important fight that must be won to ensure the country and its citizens are finally free of ISIS."

"The coalition is strong, and fully committed to supporting our Iraqi partners until ISIS is defeated and the Iraqi people are free."

The launch of another round of fighting in the country’s north is causing fresh worries for the safety of civilians caught up in the offensive.

The United Nations estimates 30,000 people have already fled the city, and it is preparing to receive thousands more displaced persons. It is believed up to 50,000 civilians remain in Tal Afar.