As has become tradition in Iraq's long fightback against the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the battle to retake the town of Tal Afar commenced on a Sunday.
A dusty town in the remote desert plains near the Syrian border, Tal Afar is one of the last strongholds of the terror group in Iraq. Its jihadist defenders had been sitting uncomfortably as Iraqi forces slowly ground down resistance in ISIL-held Mosul over the past year.
Between October 2016 and July this year, government forces gradually clawed back Mosul from the insurgents, routinely beginning each of the many stages in the massive operations on a Sunday, the first day of the week in Iraq.
As the Iraqi military was decimated in the brutal fighting in Mosul, the country's second largest city, others took care of business in Tal Afar - some 60 kilometres west of Mosul.
Shiite militia groups, known as the Hashed Al Shaabi or the Popular Mobilisation Forces, drove west in long columns of sand-coloured vintage pickup tricks and mounted anti-aircraft cannon on their flatbeds.
The Hashed initially insisted they would be taking part in the battle for Mosul, but were eventually dissuaded by the government.
They begrudgingly obliged, and instead trained their guns on Tal Afar, the most important town in the stretch of desert between Mosul and the Syrian border. Soon, the route between Syria and Mosul was cut, and Tal Afar surrounded by the Hashed.
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The militia advance ensured that Mosul was surrounded from all sides, preventing ISIL from sending more men and material into the city.
It also meant the extremists defending Mosul were trapped. In a war in which surrender usually meant a bullet through the back of the head, they now had few options but to fight to the bitter end.
In private, battlefield commanders complained about the move, and the fierce resistance by thousands of trapped extremists took a heavy toll on the elite counter-terrorism troops leading the charge. It is not known why Iraq's top brass decided on cutting all escape routes from Mosul.
Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi, the commander-in-chief who does not enjoy a reputation as a competent strategist amongst the military, might be behind it.
But there is also speculation that the Hashed acted on their own accord, driven by strategic considerations of another kind.
Many of the disparate Shiite militia groups are not just trained and equipped by Iran, they are also beholden to Tehran - a regional actor that projects influence into Iraq and beyond.
Iran is heavily involved in propping up the Assad regime in Syria, and had little interest in ISIL fighters escaping Mosul to fight another day across the border. Could the Hashed have acted unilaterally against the interests of the Iraqi government?
In the run-up to the Tal Afar operation launched this week, the Hashed had been equally verbose about joining the fight. No doubt the rank and file are keen to get involved after besieging the town for almost a year.
Tal Afar has long been a hotbed of violent Sunni extremism, first harbouring Al Qaeda and then ISIL, and taking the town holds symbolic as well as practical value.
But there is as yet no clarity to what extent the militias will be involved, and which groups will be on the frontlines.
The Hashed are divided into units that existed prior to the rise of ISIL, and which have close ties to Tehran, and units that formed in response to the extremist threat in 2014, which are closer to Baghdad.
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Risks remain as Iraqi militias press ahead with Iran’s bridge to Syria
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For the militia groups aligned with Iran, Tal Afar has already lost some of its strategic value. One of the key aims of the Hashed has been the creation of a land corridor connecting Iran with Syria, and that goal was achieved when its fighters pushed ISIL out of the southern plains of the Sinjar area in May.
The Hashed do not need to hold Tal Afar for men and material to travel all the way through Iraq in areas under their control.
And, for all their bluster, there are good reasons to stay out of the fight.
Official estimates put the number of ISIL combatants at a thousand at a minimum. They are fighting from well-prepared positions and will inflict heavy losses with their tactics of deploying suicide car bombs, explosive booby traps and snipers.
Why lose militiamen when the Iraqi military could suffer instead? A further weakening of the elite counter-terrorism troops in particular would play into the hands of the Hashed, who are vying for control over Iraq at the expense of the government.
To the 10,000 to 50,000 Sunni civilians believed to be trapped in Tal Afar, an omission of the Hashed might sound like good news. The Shiite militias have committed war crimes in most - if not all - the battles they were involved in, killing civilians as well as ISIL prisoners.
It may well not matter. In the final weeks of the battle for Mosul, Iraqi forces executed scores of civilians, believing all those still left alive to be ISIL members. It is unlikely they will see the remaining inhabitants of Tal Afar in a different light.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
More coverage from the Future Forum
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs: 2018 Maserati Levante S
Price, base / as tested: Dh409,000 / Dh467,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 430hp @ 5,750rpm
Torque: 580Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.9L / 100km
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Ford Mustang GT
Price, base / as tested: Dh204,750 / Dh241,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque: 569Nm @ 4,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.3L / 100km
more from Janine di Giovanni
Results
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
