The Battle of Tal Afar also known as Operation Restoring Rights was a military offensive conducted by the United States Army and supported by Iraqi forces, to eliminate Al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents in the city of Tal Afar, Iraq in response to the increase of insurgent attacks against U.S. and Iraqi positions in the area and to end the brutal tactics against the population by the terrorists. Coalition Forces consisted of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, and two brigades of the Iraqi 3rd Division, all were under the command of Col. H.R. McMaster. AQI had used the city as a staging ground for moving foreign fighters into Iraq since early 2005. The city was temporarily cleared for elections in 2005, but was not secured in a long-term view. The offensive was launched on September 1, 2005 in a joint United States Army and the New Iraqi Army operation to destroy suspected insurgents' havens and base of operations in Tal Afar. The initial fighting was heavy, but most of the city was secured on September 3. Although sporadic fighting and attacks would continue through most of September until the operation was declared finished on September 18. Battle Coalition forces developed and executed a detailed, painstaking methodology, that combined intelligence gathering, combat missions and stability programmes to reconstruct Coalition control of the city, one neighbourhood at a time. McMaster directed civilians to evacuate from the city in order to allow his forces to use artillery and attack helicopters to overcome the insurgents' makeshift Fortifications. Coalition forces fought street-to-street engagements with AQI terrorists and other insurgents, AQI insurgents tried to hold their ground, they also planned and executed coordinated attacks against Coalition troops, they also demonstrated the ability to somewhat command and control the insurgents in the City. Groups of insurgents perhaps hundreds massed to counterattack the advancing US and Iraqi forces, but Abrams tanks and Bradley IFVs "tore them apart." In early September, the insurgents launched a counter-information propaganda campaign; over 17 days, US forces systematically destroyed insurgent cell throughout the city. Despite being encircled, some AQI terrorists escaped the city. By September 18, the battle was over, Coalition forces succeeded in significantly eliminating AQI and other insurgents from the city, thereby creating a secure environment for the referendum in October and national elections in December 2005, Tal Afar went from being the city