Iraq 'seizes districts from IS'
- Tikrit is key to rolling back IS
- Iran's Guards take lead
- Battle for Iraq and Syria in maps
-
Iraq minorities 'wipeout threat'March 2015
Last updated at 20:54 GMT
Iraq 'seizes districts from IS' in Tikrit advance
You need to install Flash Player to play this content.The BBC's James Robbins: "It's the biggest fightback yet against so-called Islamic State"Iraqi government forces say they have retaken some districts around Tikrit in their fight to recapture the city from Islamic State (IS).A force of about 30,000 troops and militia are said to be attacking on different fronts, backed by air strikes from Iraqi jets.
A commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards is taking part in the operation, a Shia militia commander told the BBC.
Tikrit, north of the capital Baghdad, fell to IS militants last June.
Security sources told the BBC that pro-government troops had seized control of the two districts of al-Tin, near Tikrit university north-east of the city, and the district of al-Abeid, in the west.
Earlier, fighting was also reported in al-Dour, south-east of Tikrit, as well as in al-Alam, north of the city, and nearby Qadisiya.
There were few details of the operation but army and medical sources were quoted as saying that five soldiers and 11 militia fighters had been killed.
The Pentagon said that the US was not providing any air power in support of the operation.
A senior official told reporters: "This is Iraq, this is their country, their military, their fight against Isil (IS)."
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the start of the operation late on Sunday, as tens of thousands of troops and militia massed in the central town of Samarra.
Tikrit, in Salahuddin province, lies on the road to Mosul - Iraq's second city which was also seized by IS last year.
Correspondents say the current operation is crucial to any Iraqi plans to retake Mosul.
Analysis by Jim Muir, BBC Middle East Correspondent There were early claims of rapid advances being made as government forces pushed towards Tikrit from several directions.
But previous assaults on the militants there have been beaten back despite claims of victory by the state forces, so it will be some time before the fate of this latest offensive becomes clear.
It is a battle of great importance. Both the Iraqi prime minister and the Americans have been heralding an even more significant push in the coming months to recapture the biggest city in northern Iraq, Mosul, which also fell to IS last June.
That campaign would be thrown into doubt if the government fails at Tikrit, which controls the strategic highway linking the south with the north.
Campaign key to rolling back IS advance
Iraqi forces are being helped by Iran's Gen Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, Iranian and Iraqi media reported.
Since the IS advance across Iraq last summer, Gen Soleimani has personally overseen the defence of Baghdad and helped to organise pro-Iranian Shia militia.
He has been pictured visiting the front lines north of the capital on several occasions.
You need to install Flash Player to play this content.Paul Adams examines what role Iran may be playing in the conflict in TikritIraqi forces were pounding IS positions with rockets and artillery
Shia militia fighters were pictured taking up positions near Tikrit on Monday
Tikrit is the hometown of deposed leader Saddam Hussein and was seized last year by IS militants backed by anti-government Sunni allies loyal to Saddam's banned Baath party.IS issued images it said showed its fighters controlling the streets in Tikrit on Monday
Iraq is split between a Sunni Muslim minority, many of whom supported Saddam Hussein, and the Shia Muslim majority.
Since Saddam was toppled, Sunnis have felt increasingly marginalised by the Shia-led government in Baghdad.
Shia militia have done much of the fighting against IS militants - who adhere to an extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam - but have also been accused of killing scores of Sunni civilians in apparent revenge attacks.
On Sunday, Mr al-Abadi offered to pardon all Sunni tribal fighters "who have been misled or committed a mistake to lay down arms" and abandon IS.
He described it as a "last chance", saying that the city of Tikrit would soon be returned to its people.
IS militants hold several areas of Salahuddin, a predominantly Sunni Muslim province.
2 March 2015
Last updated at 16:41 GMT
Iraq moves against Islamic State in Tikrit
You need to install Flash Player to play this content.
The BBC's James Robbins: "It's the biggest fightback yet against so-called Islamic State"
Iraq
has launched a military operation to recapture Tikrit, the hometown of
former leader Saddam Hussein, from Islamic State (IS) and its allies.
A force of about 30,000 troops and militia were said to be
attacking on different fronts, backed by air strikes from Iraqi fighter
jets.Fighting is reported in towns to the north and south of Tikrit.
A Shia militia commander has told the BBC that Iran's Gen Qasem Soleimani is also taking part in the operation.
'Last chance' Gen Soleimani is the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' overseas operation arm, the Quds Force.
He emerged from decades in the shadows after the IS advance in Iraq last summer, personally overseeing the defence of the capital Baghdad and mobilising pro-Iranian Shia militia - by organising them as well as funnelling money and weapons to them.
Gen Soleimani has played an important role in countering IS in Iraq
A commander of a Shia militia unit involved in the offensive told BBC Persian that IS announced it had taken a number of youths hostage and threatened to kill them if government forces entered the city.
He added that the Iranians had been involved in the Tikrit operation for the past two days.
Major offensive Gen Soleimani has been pictured visiting the front lines north of the capital on several occasions.
Tehran says it has only sent troops to advise Iraqi security forces, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shia militiamen.
However, members of the Guards and the Quds Force are widely believed to be involved in combat operations, including those that have benefited from US-led coalition air strikes.
IS issued images it said showed its fighters controlling the streets in Tikrit on Monday
It added that Iraqi troops and fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces - an umbrella group of Shia militia fighting IS - were moving on Tikrit as air strikes hit northern militant strongholds.
There are unconfirmed reports that al-Dour, south-east of Tikrit, has been taken by Iraqi forces and fighting is also reported in the town of al-Alam, north of the city, and Qadisiya.
Government forces say they are 5km away from the heart of the city, the BBC's Ahmed Maher reports in Baghdad, but this has not been confirmed by independent sources.
Later, army and medical sources said five soldiers and 11 militia fighters had been killed by gunfire and roadside bombs.
Shia militia have done much of the fighting against IS militants but have also been accused of killing scores of Sunni civilians in apparent revenge attacks.
The Popular Mobilisation Force was formed last summer following the collapse of army troops after IS militants swept through the Sunni heartlands in the north and west of Iraq.
The jihadist movement is backed by Sunni insurgents, who started to take up arms against the Shia-led government in late 2013 after months of protests against what the Sunni community perceived as marginalisation and discrimination.
Several governments have attempted to reclaim Tikrit, the capital city of Salahuddin province, but have failed since July 2014.
The city is also symbolic for being the birthplace of Saddam Hussein. US forces found the former president hiding in southern Tikrit eight months after the US-led invasion in 2003.
If the military operation succeeds, the government forces and their allies will face a much bigger challenge to retake the main stronghold of IS in the north, the city of Mosul.
How strong is Iraq's army?
He declared the start of the operation late on Sunday, as tens of thousands of troops and militia gathered in the central town of Samarra.
Mr al-Abadi offered to pardon all Sunni tribal fighters "who have been misled or committed a mistake to lay down arms" and abandon IS.
He described it as a "last chance", saying that the city of Tikrit would soon be returned to its people.
IS militants hold several areas of Salahuddin, a predominantly Sunni Muslim province.
Iraqi forces had gathered in the mainly Sunni Muslim province of Salahuddin
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.
Soldiers and allied Shia militiamen have now begun to recapture territory from IS north of Baghdad, with the help of US-led coalition air strikes.
At the same time, Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been making advances around Mosul.
In February, Mr al-Abadi said that Iraqi armed forces would be launching a major offensive "in a few months' time" to retake the city from IS militants.
copy http://www.bbc.com/news/
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário