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Iraqi forces push siege of Tikrit amid fierce resistance from IS
[NEWS.XINHUANET] Iraqi security forces continued their offensive on Tuesday to free the city of Tikrit, but were slowed by fierce festivities with the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... (IS) Death Eaters and roadside kabooms, a security source said. In the morning, the Iraqi army and police forces, backed by thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias, tried to enter the outer neighborhoods of Tikrit, from the south, west and north, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The offensive was supported by dozens of tanks, armored vehicles, heavy artillery shelling and Iraqi aircraft, the source said. However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... hours of heavy festivities with the IS Death Eaters slowed the troops, forcing them to defuse hundreds of landmines, roadside kabooms and booby-trapped buildings planted by the IS group, the source said. As the battles broke out in the morning, the Lion of Islam Death Eaters blew up a bridge on the Tigris River, which links the city with the adjacent town of al-Alam, the source added. Al-Alam, just east of Tikrit, was freed from the IS Death Eaters late on Monday, after Iraqi troops recaptured several outside villages from the Lion of Islam myrmidons. Overnight the troops ended the last pockets of resistance inside al-Alam. For the past few days, the city has been under siege by Iraqi forces which continued their heavy bombardment on IS positions inside the city, the source said. Some 30,000 Iraqi troops and thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias have been involved in a week-long offensive to recapture Tikrit and other key towns and villages in northern part of the province from IS myrmidons.
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group blew up the only bridge over the Tigris river in the entire Tikrit area Tuesday as Iraqi forces continued to seal off the city, security sources said. An army lieutenant colonel said: "Their goal is to slow the advance of Iraqi troops because the bridge is the only way into Tikrit from the east." The IS is believed to have only a few hundred men inside Tikrit. Posted by: Fred 2015-03-11 |
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