IRAQI Shi’ite militia turned control of several recently liberated villages west of Mosul over to regular troops yesterday in preparation for a new assault on a key Isis town.

Nineveh provincial council member Hossam Eddin al-Abbar said the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) “have begun to hand over 16 liberated villages in Tal Afar, west of Mosul, to the army’s 15th division.”

The transfer will free up militia for the assault on Tal Afar — which if successful will complete an encirclement of Mosul, Iraq’s second city.

The PMU seized Tal Afar air base south of the town on Wednesday, poising them to take the main prize.

The US-backed military plan for liberating Mosul left Isis an escape route to Syria through Tal Afar — suspected to be a sop to Turkey.

Visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the Pakistani parliament yesterday: “The West is at the moment with [Isis],” adding that weapons seized from the militants originated in Western countries.

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