Based on the ferocity of the final months of the Mosul battle, coalition commanders expected fierce resistance in Tal Afar.

The objects that Islamic State fighters left behind indicate many had every intention of fighting.

In the Noor neighborhood, a bulldozer that the fighters had planned to use like a car bomb was still parked where the militants had left it. The bulldozer’s chassis was obscured by green metal panels and grates the fighters had welded on, to protect the vehicle so that its suicide driver could reach the target.

Like a skirt, the paneling reached down over the wheels of the bulldozer, ensuring that they would not be shot out.

A soldier climbed on its hood and peered over the paneling, shouting back that he saw a wire that appeared to be part of the detonation system.

A few streets over in the Mualameen neighborhood, two car-bomb factories sat on opposite sides of the street. In one factory, a room was littered with car seats removed to make space for explosives. In another room, car doors were leaning against a wall, removed so that they could be replaced with bulletproof plating.

Nearby, the graffiti on the wall read: “Oh Allah, avenge America and those allied with them. The Islamic State will remain under the noses of the spiteful.”