An Iraqi coalition of government troops and militias have begun a highly publicized offensive to push Islamic State militants out of the city of Tikrit.
The country's Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief, Haider Al-Abadi announced the start of the operation Sunday as he traveled to nearby Samarra to oversee efforts "to liberate Tikrit" and the surrounding governorate of Saladin.
Thousands of Shi'ite militiamen, local tribes, and Iraqi forces are said to have teamed up to battle for the city, in what a former regional official told VOA he anticipates will be a fierce fight.
Saladin Governorate bridges the Iraqi capital Baghdad to rebel-held Mosul in the north.
The city has been under Islamic State control since mid-2014. Tikrit is seen as a linchpin in countering the militant land-grab that swept across northern Iraq last year.
In an interview with VOA's Kurdish service last month, former Saladin deputy governor Amin Aziz said IS militants have booby-trapped Tikrit with explosives.
A senior U.S. defense official confirmed to VOA last month that Shi'ite forces were organizing a battle for Tikrit, but did not say when the offensive would take place.
The country's Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief, Haider Al-Abadi announced the start of the operation Sunday as he traveled to nearby Samarra to oversee efforts "to liberate Tikrit" and the surrounding governorate of Saladin.
Thousands of Shi'ite militiamen, local tribes, and Iraqi forces are said to have teamed up to battle for the city, in what a former regional official told VOA he anticipates will be a fierce fight.
Saladin Governorate bridges the Iraqi capital Baghdad to rebel-held Mosul in the north.
The city has been under Islamic State control since mid-2014. Tikrit is seen as a linchpin in countering the militant land-grab that swept across northern Iraq last year.
In an interview with VOA's Kurdish service last month, former Saladin deputy governor Amin Aziz said IS militants have booby-trapped Tikrit with explosives.
A senior U.S. defense official confirmed to VOA last month that Shi'ite forces were organizing a battle for Tikrit, but did not say when the offensive would take place.
[voanews.com]
1/3/15
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Iraq has launched a military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS), Iraqi TV says...
ReplyDeleteLocal media reported that forces were attacking the city, backed by airstrikes from Iraqi fighter jets.
Tikrit lies 150km (95 miles) north of the capital Baghdad and was seized by IS militants in June 2014.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi earlier met military leaders in Salahuddin province, ahead of the advance.
He offered to pardon all Sunni tribal fighters who abandoned IS, describing it as a "last chance".
Al-Iraqiya TV said that IS militants had been dislodged from some areas outside Tikrit but this has not been confirmed.
The militants hold several areas of Salahuddin, a predominantly Sunni Muslim province.
Tikrit, hometown of former President Saddam Hussein, was the second major gain for IS after the group captured the city of Mosul in June last year.
Mosul was home to more than a million people when it fell to IS after the militants launched an offensive in northern Iraq that saw it seize large swathes of the country..............http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31689433
2/3/15
Irak: 30.000 soldats mènent une offensive pour reprendre Tikrit aux djihadistes...
ReplyDeleteQuelque 30.000 membres des forces irakiennes, soutenus par des moyens aériens, mènent actuellement une offensive d’envergure pour reprendre aux djihadistes la ville de Tikrit, un bastion du groupe État islamique (EI) situé au nord de Bagdad, a indiqué lundi l’armée.
« Les forces de sécurité avancent depuis trois directions vers Tikrit, Ad-Dawr (au sud) et Al-Alam (au nord) », a déclaré par téléphone à l’AFP un colonel de l’armée irakienne.
« Des chasseurs-bombardiers, des hélicoptères et l’artillerie visent Tikrit pour assurer la progression [des forces pro-gouvernementales] et couper les voies de ravitaillement », a-t-il précisé.
Des sources militaires ont fait état d’avions irakiens participant à l’opération mais il n’était pas clair dans l’immédiat si l’offensive pouvait aussi compter sur un soutien aérien étranger, iranien ou de la coalition internationale antijihadistes conduite par les États-Unis.
Le groupe État islamique s’était emparé de cette ville en juin à la faveur d’une percée fulgurante dans le nord et l’ouest de l’Irak, où ce groupe extrémiste sunnite impose sa loi et multiplie les atrocités, comme sur les territoires qu’il contrôle en Syrie voisine.
L’opération militaire en cours à Tikrit est l’une des plus ambitieuses entreprises par Bagdad à ce jour pour faire reculer les jihadistes.
http://www.lesoir.be/808861/article/actualite/fil-info/fil-info-monde/2015-03-02/irak-30000-soldats-menent-une-offensive-pour-reprendre-tikrit-aux-dj
2/3/15
Iraq launches Tikrit operation against Islamic State...
ReplyDeleteIraq's armed forces, backed by Shia militia, attacked Islamic State strongholds north of Baghdad today.
It is the start of a campaign aimed at driving them out of the mainly Sunni Muslim province of Salahuddin.
The offensive is the biggest military operation in the province since the Sunni Islamist radicals seized swaths of north Iraq last June and advanced towards the capital Baghdad...........http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0302/683810-iraq/
2/3/15