Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Iraqi forces advance on ISIL strongholds in Tikrit

Iraqi government forces and their allied fighters are continuing to advance towards the centre of Tikrit as part of a major offensive to recapture the strategic city from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Video obtained by the AP news agency showed troops and Shia militiamen marching alongside Humvees flying Iraqi military and Shia miltia flags in the city.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan said Iraqi officials had told local media on Wednesday that they were confident of taking control of the entire city by the end of the day.

Our correspondent added, however, that the battle for the city was by no means over and that the fighting was continuing "street-by-street" as the Iraqi forces moved closer to ISIL-held areas of the city.

The Tikrit Military Hospital was one of the latest key installations re-captured from ISIL fighters on Wednesday.

In the last few days, Iraqi forces and allied Shia fighters have captured several towns in the outskirts of the birthplace of former president Saddam Hussein, including al-Alam and al-Dour.
Government troops have also reportedly taken control of the oil fields in al-Ojail, another town near Tikrit.
More troops are also reportedly standing by further out, in Samarra and Beiji, as well as outside the town of Garma in Anbar.

Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Sulaymaniyah, said on Wednesday: "The word is that while the Iraqi army is indeed in Tikrit, they have not yet managed to control the entire city.
"What they've done is clear the way to the city and clear surrounding areas.

"What we're hearing is really quite a lot of concern about the damage that is being done and could be done ... There are reports coming from politicians chatting to their constituencies that entire villages have essentially been destroyed along the way."

Our correspondent said those reports could not be independently verified...................http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/isil-fighters-launch-attack-iraq-ramadi-150311100558109.html
11/3/15
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4 comments :

  1. US predicts Iraqi victory in Tikrit...

    The top US general has said "there is no doubt" Iraqi forces will drive Islamic State (IS) militants out of Tikrit, as the troops reportedly entered the city's northern areas.

    Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was speaking at a hearing in the Senate in Washington.

    Iraqi officials earlier said government troops and Shia militias held two-thirds of Tikrit's Qadisiya district.

    But they have so far not made much progress in Tikrit's south and west.

    The operation to retake the hometown of Saddam Hussein is the biggest offensive yet by the Iraqi government.

    Iran is helping to co-ordinate the 30,000 soldiers and militiamen involved. But the operation is not being supported by US-led coalition air strikes................http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31833592
    11/3/15

    ReplyDelete
  2. CIA former chief: Iraq falls under Iran's influence...

    The former head of the CIA Michael Hayden expressed his concerns about the fact that the Iranian Shiites were putting more pressure on the Sunnis of Iraq.

    "I am made uncomfortable by the growing Iranian influence in Iraq. I am made uncomfortable by the fact that it looked like a Shia advance against a Sunni town," said Hayden during a roundtable on international intelligence sharing at the New America Foundation. Hayden headed the Central Intelligence Agency between 2006 and 2009, Pravda.Ru says.

    According to Michael Hayden, the hometown of late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has become a target for Iraqi troops that enjoy the support of Shiite militias of Iran.

    "And the proof would be what happens if and when they retake Tikrit... How the militias act toward the local population," he added................http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/11-03-2015/130016-cia_iraq_hayden_iran-0/
    11/3/15

    ReplyDelete
  3. U.S. general seeks Turkish role in Mosul fight...

    As Iraqi forces pushed into Tikrit, a top U.S. general visited Turkey on Wednesday to seek a Turkish role in the upcoming operation aiming to retake Mosul from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group after its militants seized the city in a lightening offensive in June last year.

    Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, who is overseeing the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq, met with the Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel in Ankara to convey his expectations to Turkey, the local Today’s Zaman reported.

    Özel reportedly expressed Turkey’s stance to Austin, who also heads U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). However, the newspaper did not detail further information about their meeting................http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/12/U-S-general-seeks-Turkish-role-in-Mosul-fight.html
    12/3/15

    ReplyDelete
  4. Iraqi forces slowed by snipers and bombs in Tikrit...

    Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi'ite militia exchanged fire sporadically with Islamic State fighters in Tikrit on Thursday, a day after they pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants.

    A source at the local military command reported intermittent gunfire in the morning as the army and militia fighters struggled to advance in the southern, northern and northwestern parts of the city which they took in the last 24 hours.

    Islamic State fighters stormed into Tikrit last June during a lightning offensive that was halted just outside Baghdad. They have since used the complex of palaces built in Tikrit under Saddam, the executed former president, as their headquarters.

    The military source said the insurgents still held the presidential complex and at least three other districts in the centre of Tikrit, holding up further army advances with snipers and bombs. A Reuters photographer saw one car bomb explode on the southern edge of the city, and security officials say Islamic State fighters have booby-trapped abandoned buildings...............http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/iraqi-forces-slowed-by-sn/1711574.html
    12/3/15

    ReplyDelete

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