{{Short description|Fortified city center in Iraq}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox military installation | name = Tal Afar Citadel | native_name = Telafer Kalesi | location = Tal Afar, Iraq | image = Tal Afar Castle.jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = The Tal Afar Citadel in 2007 | type = Citadel | coordinates = {{coord|36|22|32|N|42|27|16.7|E|type:landmark|display=inline}} | image_map = | image_map_caption = | ownership = | controlledby = Iraq | open_to_public = No | built = 16th century | used = | builder = Ottoman Empire | materials = | fate = Demolished by ISIL in 2015 | condition = Ruins | battles = Battle of Tal Afar (2005)<br>Battle of Tal Afar (2017) }}
The '''Tal Afar Citadel''' ({{langx|tr|Telafer Kalesi}})<ref>{{cite web |title=Türkmeneli TV Tarihi Telafer Kalesi'nde |url=http://www.turkmenelitv.com/haberler/turkmeneli/item/17202-turkmeneli-tv-tarihi-telafer-kalesi-nde.html |accessdate=11 October 2020 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> is a citadel located in Tal Afar, a city in Nineveh Governorate in northwest Iraq. The citadel was built by the Ottoman Empire,<ref name="cmh"/> although it contains remains dating back to the Assyrian period.<ref name="xinhua"/>
Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the citadel housed the mayoral, municipal and police headquarters of Tal Afar. It was used as a base by American forces in the Battle of Tal Afar in 2005.<ref name="cmh">{{cite web|last1=Schlosser|first1=Nicholas J.|title=The Pacification of Tal Afar|url=https://history.army.mil/News/2015/150800a_talAfar/|website=U.S. Army Center of Military History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905085047/http://history.army.mil/news/2015/150800a_talAfar.html|archive-date=5 September 2015|url-status=live|date=August 2015}}</ref> Tal Afar fell to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in June 2014, and the militants used the citadel as a prison for women and girls who were to be forcibly married to ISIL members.<ref>{{cite news|title=Iraq: ISIS executes at least 150 women for refusing to marry its militants|url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22919|work=Al Akhbar|date=17 December 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219013301/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22919|archivedate=19 December 2014}}</ref>
In December 2014, ISIL blew up the city's northern and western walls, causing extensive damage.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Christopher|title=ISIS destroys several more sites in Mosul and Tal Afar|url=https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/isis-destroys-several-more-sites-in-mosul-and-tal-afar/|website=Gates of Nineveh|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305020756/https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/isis-destroys-several-more-sites-in-mosul-and-tal-afar/|archivedate=5 March 2016|date=15 February 2015}}</ref> The militants also excavated some of the ruins within the citadel, probably to look for antiquities which they could sell.<ref name="xinhua">{{cite news|title=Extremist IS militants damage ancient citadel, two shrines in Iraq's Nineveh|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-12/31/c_133890461.htm|agency=Xinhua News Agency|date=31 December 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113075719/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-12/31/c_133890461.htm|archivedate=13 January 2015}}</ref> UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova strongly condemned the destruction of the citadel.<ref>{{cite web|title=UNESCO Director-General strongly condemns attacks at ancient site of Tel Afar in Iraq|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_director_general_strongly_condemns_attacks_at_ancient_site_of_tel_afar_in_iraq/#.VwO1Q_l97IU|website=UNESCO|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302113306/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_director_general_strongly_condemns_attacks_at_ancient_site_of_tel_afar_in_iraq/|archivedate=2 March 2015|date=7 January 2015}}</ref> The citadel was recaptured by Iraqi forces during the battle to recapture Tal Afar in 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/iraqi-fighters-retake-historic-city-from-isis|title=Iraqi fighters retake historic city from ISIS|work=The Straits Times|date=30 August 2017|accessdate=3 September 2017}}</ref>{{Infobox | title = Zarb castle | label1 = Location | data1 = Ghammas, Iraq }}
== See also ==
==References== {{reflist}}{{Castles in Iraq}}
Category:Castles in Iraq Category:Prisons in Iraq Category:Ottoman fortifications Category:Buildings and structures destroyed by the Islamic State Category:2015 disestablishments in Iraq Category:2nd-millennium establishments in Iraq Category:16th-century fortifications Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 2015