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Iraq army hunts ISIL fighters after Tikrit breakthrough

Iraq army hunts ISIL fighters after Tikrit breakthrough thumbnail

Iraqi forces battled the last Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in Tikrit to seal a victory the government described as a milestone in efforts to rid the country of armed group.

Iraqi fighters picked their way through the rubble-strewn streets of the city on Wednesday, wary of any last-ditch attack from ISIL fighters and of the thousands of bombs they left behind.

A major military push saw Iraqi police and allied forces retake the city centre on Tuesday but pockets of jihadist militants remained.

A top leader in the Badr organisation, one of the most prominent Shia militias in Iraq, admitted that Tikrit had not been completely purged of ISIL fighters.

“Snipers are still there and many buildings are booby-trapped,” Karim al-Nuri told AFP news agency in the northern Tikrit neighbourhood of Qadisiya.

A commander for the Ketaeb Imam Ali militia said his men were involved in a firefight in the north of the city as late as 11:00am (0800 GMT).

They “tried to advance on the university,” Rasul al-Abadi told AFP, adding that there were “no more than 30” ISIL fighters left in the city’s vast northern district of Qadisiya.

“The Iraqi security forces control 95 percent of the city, there are sporadic clashes,” said an army lieutenant colonel from Salaheddin province, of which Tikrit is the capital.

An official from the governor’s office said municipal teams were already at work in some reconquered neighbourhoods, cleaning debris and restoring power.

Mosul planning

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Haider al-Abaddi claimed the city was liberated but the US-led coalition that has been helping Baghdad from the air said there was “still work to be done”.

After fighters replaced the black ISIL flag on the provincial headquarters with Iraq’s tricolour on Tuesday, Abaddi hailed the reconquest of Tikrit as a “historic milestone”.

A paramilitary commander said ISIL fighters launched an attack from a mountain hideout northeast of Tikrit on Wednesday in an attempt to open a safe passage to the town of Hawija for fleeing fighters.

Iraq’s top brass was already training its sights on Mosul, which fighters seized from the government at the same time as Tikrit in June last year.

“This victory is only a new starting point from which to launch the operation to liberate Nineveh province,” the defence ministry said Tuesday after a meeting of top commanders.

The loss of Tikrit further isolates the main ISIL hub of Mosul, with Baghdad’s forces now set to push north while Kurdish forces close in from the three other directions.

Zaid al-Ali, author of “The Struggle For Iraq’s Future”, said however that the fighting in Tikrit was made easier by the fact that the city was largely emptied of its population even before the operation began on March 2.

“Mosul still has a large civilian population, which will make things very complicated,” the analyst said.

al jazeera



13 Comments on "Iraq army hunts ISIL fighters after Tikrit breakthrough"

  1. Plantagenet on Mon, 4th May 2015 11:08 am 

    1. There is a difference between the Iraqi army and the sectarian Shia militias.

    2. The forces that took Tikrmt were not “US-led”. The Shia militia forces were commanded by an Iranian general.

  2. Ron Patterson on Mon, 4th May 2015 12:50 pm 

    Plant, there is no claim in the article that the forces that took Tikrit were “US led”. The US led coalition that had been helping Baghdad from the air only stated that there was more work to be done.

  3. Plantagenet on Mon, 4th May 2015 3:00 pm 

    The Iranian air force also bombed Tikrit. Again, trying to claim somehow that the US was leading the effort either on the ground or in the air is misleading. The attack on Tikrit was dominated by Shia militia commanded by an Iranian General and supported by Iranian air attacks.

    No doubt the US air attacks aided the Iraniain led effort, but at the end of the day this is a victory for the Iraqi Shia militia and their Iraniain allies over the dominantly Sunni fighters from the Islamic state in Tikrit.

  4. joe on Mon, 4th May 2015 4:28 pm 

    As long as isis can retreat into syria, all this is wasted effort.

  5. jjhman on Mon, 4th May 2015 4:34 pm 

    The comment about “thousands of bombs” left in the city prompted me to wonder who is financing ISIS. They were getting some revenue from oil that they controlled but I understood that was under control.

    The major funding source of most Sunni groups comes from our old buddies in SA. Are they funding ISIS? If not, you would certainly think that the level of expenditure by ISIS would lead to a money trail somewhere.

  6. Keith_McClary on Mon, 4th May 2015 11:05 pm 

    MAY 04, 2015
    Why the US portrayal is Very Far from the Truth
    Is ISIS Really on the Run?
    by PATRICK COCKBURN
    http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/05/04/is-isis-really-on-the-run/

  7. BobInget on Tue, 5th May 2015 9:28 am 

    Painkillers only mask cancer’s deadly effects.

    WE are in Act 2 of this thirty years war.

    It’s always about oil. The first step might be to admit that.

  8. Davy on Tue, 5th May 2015 10:16 am 

    Bobby, I personally think it is about power first and oil second. Oil is like gold he who has it or controls it has power plain and simple.

    And yes the U.S. Should admit the power want and the oil control. Instead we hear phony nation states building and protecting the world from terrorist.

    Can you believe the idiots in Texas doing Muhammed cartoons. WTF is going on with asshole liberals?

    Although that may have been a false flag to drum up public support for the next round of fascist policies. Anything is possible today out of The DC den of thieves and rapist.

  9. BobInget on Tue, 5th May 2015 1:51 pm 

    Saudi Aramco in negotiation to buy 1.7 mln bbls gasoil for May
    * Spot requirement likely to meet summer demand

    * Prompt delivery could be stalling negotiations – traders

    * Aramco yet to conclude term with long-standing supplier Reliance

    By Jessica Jaganathan
    SINGAPORE, May 5 (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco is in negotiation to buy 1.7 million barrels of gasoil for delivery in May, its largest spot requirement in recent months, to meet a potential rise in domestic demand for the power generation fuel in summer, industry sources said.

    The spot requirement comes even after the country added 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity in two new refineries over the last two years.

    Saudi Arabia was once a top importer of gasoil during summer, but its reduced gasoil imports this year are expected to weigh on gasoil margins, traders said.
    Saudi Arabia’s demand for electricity usually peaks during the summer with increased air conditioning use as temperatures soar to as high as 50 degrees Celsius. Its demand for gasoil for transport also increases during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which is expected to start on June 18 this year.

    Saudi Aramco Products Trading Company (ATC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco , issued a tender late last week seeking four cargoes of 300,000 barrels of gasoil for delivery into Jizan and another 500,000 barrels of the fuel for delivery into Ras Tanura.

    The cargoes are to have a sulphur content of 500 parts per million (ppm) and be delivered between May 10 and 31, the sources said. The spot requirement is likely to fill an anticipated increase in domestic demand despite the new refining capacity, traders said.

    “It’s not that hot yet with temperatures around low 30 degrees (Celsius), so summer is actually relatively mild for May,” an industry source said.

    The tender closed on April 30 and was valid until May 1, but Aramco is still negotiating with potential sellers on the deal, sources said.

    Traders said the promptness of the dates, which could be pushing up premiums, may be delaying the tender award.

    Saudi Aramco also has yet to renew an annual term deal with India’s Reliance Industries to import diesel, a contract that might not be inked due to now adequate domestic supply in Saudi Arabia, traders added.

    “They might instead just import 500 ppm sulphur gasoil during summer in the spot market and export the 10ppm sulphur diesel depending on economics,” one of them said.

    (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; Editing by Tom Hogue) (([email protected]; +65 6870 3822; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

  10. Nony on Tue, 5th May 2015 3:53 pm 

    So what’s your point, Bob? SA refining capacity is 3 MM bpd of crude. The amount listed here is less than one day of (crude) capacity. It’s something you could get in a single ship delivery. Refineries routinely buy products and sell them and it differs by season. And then needing it for an end market, who cares? Are you a mercantilist?

  11. joe on Tue, 5th May 2015 4:58 pm 

    Davy the thing with liberals is 40 check their history. It began with the confluence of the dawn of the fossil fuel age, liberation of humans from toil (the abolitionism movement included) and the dawn of the age of feminism. Therefore liberals are at root idealists who believe that the world can be made better as long as the powerful status quo can be challenged. Due to the location of the dawn of liberalism and industrialisation liberals are western and see other points of view as while maybe reasonable are essentially evil.
    If only they could understand what people like al Baghdadi , and Zawahiri would would do to liberals and their idealism. They make the strictest version of Catholicism look like peanuts. Liberals with their cult of permissiveness and luxury is nothing but hubris.

  12. Davy on Tue, 5th May 2015 5:32 pm 

    Joe, thanks for the insight. I am a doomer. Doomers see liberals and conservatives as nothing more than shades of BAUtopianism. IOW both movements are at their heart believe in human exceptionalism through technology and development. Both tend to believe in progress of human achievement and mastery of nature.

    I was a bit harsh on liberals in regards to the Texas Muhammed cartoon inside the. Conservatives might participate out of hatred for Muslims where liberals want to exert their right to free speech.

    I am wondering why either of the numb nut branches of BAUtopianism liberals or conservatives choose to instead show moderation and respect for a people’s deeply held beliefs. This is just common sense.

    Theories of freedoms are one thing that can be discussed but practicing these freedoms knowingly to elicit anger and resentment invites conflict. Would it not be better to say we believe in free speech within reason and we will choose to avoid inflammatory actions out of respect.

    The fundamentalist Christians should think about their boys fighting in harms way. Why add to their already difficult missions.

    As for the animal fundamentalist Muslims well they will live by the sword and die by it. The whole ME is a desert with a huge population in overshoot to water and food support.

    Muslims in the ME days are numbered with a huge die off is in store for them. Likewise for other areas but many other areas where not so crazy as to allow such populations in a desert location.

    The highest birth rates are Muslim. I am Catholic and I mock the churches prolife stance as they promote death by overpopulation policies. Muslims are in the same league on promoting overpopulation.

    So long story short why the frig are these idiots in Texas stirring up shit. Don’t we have enough messes. I am also wondering if this is a government inside job to stir up support for a wider Mideast war. Anything and everything is possible in this world of overshoot at all levels physical and abstract.

  13. Apneaman on Tue, 5th May 2015 8:23 pm 

    Iran Remains a U.S. Enemy Because Military Contractors Want It That Way

    http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/for_the_benefit_of_military_contractors_iran_must_remain_an_enermy_20150504

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