| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqi Forces Seize Large Parts of Tikrit From Islamic State Militants |
| 2015-03-11 |
| [NYTIMES] Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite militias seized large parts of Tikrit on Tuesday, amid reports that most of 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.... hard boyz battling to hold the city had begun retreating, security officials said. The progress came after more than a week of heavy fighting to retake Tikrit, a city in the so-called Sunni Triangle that holds both strategic and emotional importance in the effort to roll back the Islamic State's lightning advance toward Baghdad in June. The offensive is the largest pro-goverment military operation yet, involving a combined force of more than 30,000. And if it succeeds, it would be a significant step in the march north to djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Iraq's second-largest city and an early conquest for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Still, previous announcements of victory for the Iraqi government have been reversed before, notably in parts of Anbar Province and at an oil refinery near the city of Baiji. And already, the government offensive has exposed tensions in the American-Iraqi alliance. So far, the United States-led international coalition has sat out the battle for Tikrit, with American officials saying they were uncomfortable with the prominent role of Shiite militias and Iranian military officials in taking a predominantly Sunni city. Rafid Jaboori, the front man for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said in a recent interview that despite the lack of direct American involvement in Tikrit, the United States would have "a significant role" in any operation to take Mosul, as would Kurdish pesh merga forces. He noted, too, that the United States and Iran shared an interest in seeing the Islamic State defeated. |
| Posted by:Fred |