"The Hashd al-Shaabi has set free 300 Sunni families from ISIL-controlled areas," the Iraqi volunteer forces announced in a statement on Monday.

The statement said that the Iraqi volunteer forces also managed to destroy three suicide vehicles of the ISIL terrorist group near the village of al-Nazareh; FNA reported.

The Hashd al-Shaabi forces also seized back three other villages to the West of Mosul.

The Hashd al-Shaabi forces started the third phase of the military operations in areas on the Western side of Mosul on Monday.

"The main purpose of the third phase of the military operations in Western Mosul is to help Iraq's joint military forces to take control of the remaining areas," Hashd al-Shaabi Spokesman Ahmad al-Assadi said in a statement on Monday.

He reiterated that another objective of the fresh military campaign in Western Mosul is to cut off the terrorists' supply routes from Mosul to Raqqa.

Al-Assadi said that the Iraqi volunteer forces plan to make further advances towards Tal Afar region after seizing back more lands to the West of Mosul city.

On Sunday, al-Assadi declared that a new stage of operations to retake the strategic city of Tal Afar in Nineveh province will start soon.

"Starting the operations to free Tal Afar is a matter of time. The third phase (of operations) to take back the city will start soon," al-Assadi told al-Mayadeen news channel.

Elsewhere, he voiced concern about the growing number of the Turkish forces deployed in Iraq, and said Turkey's presence in Iraq is aimed at rocking the boat in efforts to annihilate the ISIL.

Based on an agreement made earlier, the Iraqi popular forces and Peshmarga Kurdish troops will not be part of the invading forces inside the two cities of Tal Afar and Mosul, while they will help tighten and maintain the siege on the rims of the two cities. Various units of Iraq's armed forces, including the army, police and anti-terrorism troops, will lead the assault.

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