Tall Afar Air Base

Overview[]

Tall Afar Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force base in the Nineveh Governorate of Iraq. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

At each end of the main 10,000-foot runway are a dozen hardened aircraft shelters known as "Trapezoids" or "Yugos" which were built by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985 with multiple runways and taxiways, patterned after their Soviet (now Ukranian, Belorussian, Russian and Kazakhstani) counterparts. Coalition forces bombed it in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Officially it remains it remains in use by the United States Army as Forward Operating base Tall Afar, but it was held by ISIS forces until it's liberation 2016.

Data[]

Tall Afar Air Base.
Category.	Statistic.
Location.	Kurdistan, Iraq.
Opened in.	1985 (for Saddam Hussein's Iraq, but now in in Autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan).
Closed in.	The damaged base is now being occupied by the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militia.
Operated by.	Saddam's Iraq 1985-2003, USA/Germany 2003-2012, ISIL (IS/ISIS) 2012 to 2016 and Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militia 2016 to date.
Owned by.	Saddam's Iraq 1985-2003, USA/Germany 2003-2012, ISIL (IS/ISIS) 2012 to 2016 and Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militia 2016 to date.
Outside links.	http://www.mashpedia.com/Tall_Afar_Air_Base, http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/19/middleeast/mosul-one-month-on/, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/02/jihadist_training_ca_1.php, http://wikimapia.org/1892127/Tall-Afar-Air-Base, http://airportsbase.org/Iraq/all/Tall_Afar/TALL_AFAR, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tall_Afar_Air_Base, http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Tall_Afar_Air_Base, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/02/jihadist_training_ca_1.php, http://ts2.space/en/US-Army-Base/Tall-Afar-AB-Airbase-in-Iraq, http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Tall_Afar_Air_Base, http://ts2.space/en/US-Army-Base/Tall-Afar-AB-Airbase-in-Iraq, http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Tall_Afar_Air_Base and http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Tall_Afar_Air_Base.

History[]

Pre-ISIL history[]

Tall Afar Air Base was a primary air base for the Iraqi Air Force. At each end of the main 10,000-foot runway are a dozen hardened aircraft shelters known as "Trapezoids" or "Yugos" which were built by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985 with multiple runways and taxiways, patterned after their Russian counterparts.

The base was heavily attacked by Coalition airpower during Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003, and seized by Coalition ground forces.

ISIL and Hashd al-Shaabi Use[]

ISIL\ISIS\IS\Daesh took by force it in 2012. The base was being used as a training camp for the ISIL's Knights of War Battalion. The Shiite militia Hashd al-Shaabi recaptured the air base in November 2016.