Iraqi offensive on hold to allow Tikrit civilians to leave
Young volunteer militia pose for a picture before going into battle against Islamic State fighters in Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday.
AP, Baghdad :
Iraq’s Interior Minister says military operations to recapture the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit have temporarily paused to allow civilians left in Saddam Hussein’s hometown to leave.
Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban says the offensive, which began early this month, has achieved 90 percent of its objectives and has squeezed the militants into a small part of the city center.
He says Islamic State extremists have booby-trapped buildings in central Tikrit and that Iraqi forces, backed by Shiite militias and Iranian advisers, slowed their push to reduce their own causalities, protect the infrastructure and allow residents to leave.
The minister spoke on Monday from the nearby city of Samarra.
He did not give a timeframe for the resumption of operations, saying that is being “left to the field commanders.”
Meanwhile, Iraq needs more airstrikes to dislodge Islamic State militants from Tikrit, senior officials said on Monday, as the campaign to retake Saddam Hussein’s home city stalled for a fourth day due to homemade bombs and booby traps.
Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi’ite militia pushed into Tikrit last week but have struggled to advance against the militants who are holed up in a vast complex of palaces built when Saddam was in power.
Government forces are in control of the northern Qadisiya district as well as the southern and western outskirts of the city, trapping the militants in an area bounded by the river that runs through Tikrit.
“We need air support from any force that can work with us against IS,” Deputy Minister of Defense Ibrahim al-Ilami told Reuters, declining to say whether he meant from the U.S.-led coalition or Iran, which is playing a role in the assault.
The U.S.-led coalition has been conspicuously absent from the offensive, the biggest to be undertaken by Iraqi forces since Islamic State overran around a third of the country last summer including Tikrit.
More than 20,000 troops and Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia are taking part in the operation, which began two weeks ago, supported by a relatively small contingent of Sunni fighters from the area.
“We have been saying we need more air support for all of the operations,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman Raid Jubbouri told Reuters. “We welcome air support for all our campaigns against IS.”
Iraqi forces need support from coalition air strikes in Tikrit, where die-hard jihadists are defending their last redoubt with trenches, sandbags and roadside bombs, a top officer said on Sunday.
Two weeks into Baghdad’s biggest operation yet against the Islamic State (IS) group, Iraqi forces have a complete stranglehold on Tikrit but have yet to launch a final assault.
Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi said he had asked the defence ministry to request coalition involvement, but “no air support” from foreign allies had yet been provided in Tikrit.
That assertion is supported by daily statements from the coalition that have not mentioned strikes in the area.
Asked if US-led coalition air strikes would help, Saadi said: “Of course… the Americans have advanced equipment, they have AWACS (surveillance) aircraft.”
“They are able to locate the targets exactly” and carry out accurate strikes, he told AFP in an interview at Tikrit University on the northern edge of the city.
“With the advanced technology of the aircraft and weapons they have, of course (strikes) by them are necessary,” Saadi said.
Saadi said that support from the Iraqi air force had been “limited”.
Fighters from the Imam Ali Brigades, a Shiite militia involved in the Tikrit operation, complained to AFP that a Sukhoi jet had even targeted pro-government forces by mistake.
Since IS fighters took the city in June 2014, they have planted bombs underneath every road, according to residents who fled Tikrit.
One police officer gave an estimate of 10,000 IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Tikrit.
“We are reinforcing our offensive capacities in the areas we have cleared and reinforcing our control on the entrances to the city,” an army major general said Sunday.
“IS is putting up sandbags and digging trenches,” he said.
Saadi said that while there were enough personnel trained in explosives disposal, there is a shortage of the equipment to carry out the task.
Karim al-Nuri, a spokesman for the volunteer Popular Mobilisation units, said on Saturday he expected Tikrit to be liberated within 72 hours.
Iraq’s Interior Minister says military operations to recapture the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit have temporarily paused to allow civilians left in Saddam Hussein’s hometown to leave.
Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban says the offensive, which began early this month, has achieved 90 percent of its objectives and has squeezed the militants into a small part of the city center.
He says Islamic State extremists have booby-trapped buildings in central Tikrit and that Iraqi forces, backed by Shiite militias and Iranian advisers, slowed their push to reduce their own causalities, protect the infrastructure and allow residents to leave.
The minister spoke on Monday from the nearby city of Samarra.
He did not give a timeframe for the resumption of operations, saying that is being “left to the field commanders.”
Meanwhile, Iraq needs more airstrikes to dislodge Islamic State militants from Tikrit, senior officials said on Monday, as the campaign to retake Saddam Hussein’s home city stalled for a fourth day due to homemade bombs and booby traps.
Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi’ite militia pushed into Tikrit last week but have struggled to advance against the militants who are holed up in a vast complex of palaces built when Saddam was in power.
Government forces are in control of the northern Qadisiya district as well as the southern and western outskirts of the city, trapping the militants in an area bounded by the river that runs through Tikrit.
“We need air support from any force that can work with us against IS,” Deputy Minister of Defense Ibrahim al-Ilami told Reuters, declining to say whether he meant from the U.S.-led coalition or Iran, which is playing a role in the assault.
The U.S.-led coalition has been conspicuously absent from the offensive, the biggest to be undertaken by Iraqi forces since Islamic State overran around a third of the country last summer including Tikrit.
More than 20,000 troops and Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia are taking part in the operation, which began two weeks ago, supported by a relatively small contingent of Sunni fighters from the area.
“We have been saying we need more air support for all of the operations,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman Raid Jubbouri told Reuters. “We welcome air support for all our campaigns against IS.”
Iraqi forces need support from coalition air strikes in Tikrit, where die-hard jihadists are defending their last redoubt with trenches, sandbags and roadside bombs, a top officer said on Sunday.
Two weeks into Baghdad’s biggest operation yet against the Islamic State (IS) group, Iraqi forces have a complete stranglehold on Tikrit but have yet to launch a final assault.
Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi said he had asked the defence ministry to request coalition involvement, but “no air support” from foreign allies had yet been provided in Tikrit.
That assertion is supported by daily statements from the coalition that have not mentioned strikes in the area.
Asked if US-led coalition air strikes would help, Saadi said: “Of course… the Americans have advanced equipment, they have AWACS (surveillance) aircraft.”
“They are able to locate the targets exactly” and carry out accurate strikes, he told AFP in an interview at Tikrit University on the northern edge of the city.
“With the advanced technology of the aircraft and weapons they have, of course (strikes) by them are necessary,” Saadi said.
Saadi said that support from the Iraqi air force had been “limited”.
Fighters from the Imam Ali Brigades, a Shiite militia involved in the Tikrit operation, complained to AFP that a Sukhoi jet had even targeted pro-government forces by mistake.
Since IS fighters took the city in June 2014, they have planted bombs underneath every road, according to residents who fled Tikrit.
One police officer gave an estimate of 10,000 IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Tikrit.
“We are reinforcing our offensive capacities in the areas we have cleared and reinforcing our control on the entrances to the city,” an army major general said Sunday.
“IS is putting up sandbags and digging trenches,” he said.
Saadi said that while there were enough personnel trained in explosives disposal, there is a shortage of the equipment to carry out the task.
Karim al-Nuri, a spokesman for the volunteer Popular Mobilisation units, said on Saturday he expected Tikrit to be liberated within 72 hours.
