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2015-03-14 Iraq
Iraqi offensive on Tikrit appears to stall
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The offensive to retake Tikrit appeared to stall on Friday, two days after Iraqi security forces and mainly Shi'ite militia pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the murderous Moslems.

A source in the Salahuddin Operations Command said Iraqi forces would not move forward until reinforcements reached Tikrit, of which 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 Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) still holds around half.

Using guerrilla warfare tactics, the gunnies have turned the city into a labyrinth of home-made bombs and booby-trapped buildings, and are using snipers to halt their progress.

Hadi al-Amiri, the head of the Shi'ite paramilitary Badr Organization and now one of the most powerful men in Iraq said the outcome of the battle for Tikrit was in no doubt, but Iraqi forces needed time.

"We are not in a hurry, but we have a plan and we are following it," Amiri told Iraqi state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
from the Tikrit frontline. "Even if the battle drags on for two, three or four days that is okay. We will celebrate the liberation of Tikrit from the enemy."

A victory in Tikrit would give Iraqi forces momentum for the next stage of the campaign to retake djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, the largest city under control of Islamic State, which now rules a self-proclaimed caliphate in Sunni regions in Syria and Iraq.

But the involvement of Iran, which backs some of the Shi'ite militia at the forefront of the campaign and is also playing a direct role, is a source of unease for some Sunnis in Iraq and across the wider region.

The ISIS fighters overran Tikrit last June during a lightning offensive that was halted just outside Baghdad. They have since used the complex of palaces built in Tikrit under Saddam, the executed former president, as their headquarters.
Posted by Fred 2015-03-14 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11150 views ]  Top
 File under: Islamic State 

#1 Anyone didnt see this coming?

They're waiting for the militias to call up more goons as cannon fodder.
Posted by OldSpook 2015-03-14 01:52||   2015-03-14 01:52|| Front Page Top

#2 They're waiting for USA, or Iran, to save them.
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2015-03-14 04:48||   2015-03-14 04:48|| Front Page Top

#3 According to Ynet this morning, they're waiting for the experts, whatever that means:

The source [in the local military command center], speaking by phone from near Tikrit, said the Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias known as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) were waiting for reinforcements from "well-trained forces". He did not give a timeline for the arrival of the reinforcements.

"We do not need a large number, just one or two thousand. We need professional personnel and soldiers," he said, explaining they were needed to engage in street-by-street battles with Islamic State fighters who have booby trapped many buildings in the city and laid improvised explosive devices and roadside bombs.
Posted by trailing wife 2015-03-14 09:31||   2015-03-14 09:31|| Front Page Top

#4 quelle surprise
Posted by Procopius2k 2015-03-14 10:17||   2015-03-14 10:17|| Front Page Top

#5 They'rewaiting for USA, or Iran, to save them.

Bets on who's going to show up first?
Posted by Pappy 2015-03-14 11:32||   2015-03-14 11:32|| Front Page Top

#6 Bets on who's going to show up first?

The ones who're already there?
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2015-03-14 11:35||   2015-03-14 11:35|| Front Page Top

#7 "We are not in a hurry, but we have a plan and we are following it," That sounds so Baghdad Bobbian. Gonna starve em out, eh?
Posted by JohnQC 2015-03-14 11:52||   2015-03-14 11:52|| Front Page Top

#8 A deal has been cut.
Posted by Shipman 2015-03-14 13:31||   2015-03-14 13:31|| Front Page Top

#9 Check out this map of the battle to retake Tikrit

If the numbers are correct and ISIS has gone from 13,000 fighters to 150, then there has been a major bug out recently. Probably in the direction of Mosul.

Al
Posted by frozen al 2015-03-14 14:06||   2015-03-14 14:06|| Front Page Top

#10 Map saved, frozen al. Thanks! If a bug ourpt, then that's lots more people to feed and house in Mosul than originally planned... The siege should be interesting when the time comes.
Posted by trailing wife 2015-03-14 16:25||   2015-03-14 16:25|| Front Page Top

#11 Mosul? Possibly.

Gap left open to the west, if the map is accurate. Lots of 'nothing' out that way as well.
Posted by Pappy 2015-03-14 16:39||   2015-03-14 16:39|| Front Page Top

02:55 trailing wife
02:27 Grom the Affective
02:23 Grom the Affective
02:18 Grom the Affective
02:11 Grom the Affective
02:07 Grom the Affective
00:27 Secret Master









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