MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- As U.S. soldiers construct a wall around the troubled city of Tal Afar to keep out fighters and weapons, residents are fleeing in fear of an imminent military attack by American and Iraqi forces against insurgents still in the city, according to a senior military commander.
"It's not a mass exodus right now, but people have moved out of the city along kinship lines," Col. H.R. McMaster, commander of the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry, which is responsible for security in Tal Afar, told CNN.
Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez of the U.S. Army's Task Force Freedom said he was discussing with Iraqi leaders how best to handle the continuing violence in Tal Afar, where parts of the city are still controlled by insurgents.
"We're still working through that," he told CNN. He said a U.S. military offensive there in June appears to have had only "a temporary disruptive effect" on the insurgency. Rodriguez said tension in the city has risen over the past few weeks.[...]
Residents fleeing Tal Afar
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From Jane Arraf, CNN
MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- As U.S. soldiers construct a wall around the troubled city of Tal Afar to keep out fighters and weapons, residents are fleeing in fear of an imminent military attack by American and Iraqi forces against insurgents still in the city, according to a senior military commander.
"It's not a mass exodus right now, but people have moved out of the city along kinship lines," Col. H.R. McMaster, commander of the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry, which is responsible for security in Tal Afar, told CNN.
