Home
As Battle in Iraq Against ISIS Broadens, So Do Backstage Moves
3/13/2015
Shiite fighters in northern Tikrit as Iraqi security forces backed by militia fought to capture positions held by the Islamic State on Thursday.
BAGHDAD — Iraqi government forces and allied militias continued on Friday to battle Islamic State militants who defended their remaining positions in the city of Tikrit with snipers and roadside bombs. As officials called for unity against the militant group, which swept into much of Iraq’s north and west last year, and declared that the fight was an Iraqi national objective, rather than a Shiite or Iranian one, new factions showed their readiness to join the conflict, albeit in relatively small numbers. That signaled not only a broadening of the Iraqi fight against the Islamic State, but also probably an expansion of the maneuvering by rival groups to share a measure of credit for an expected victory and to position themselves to take part in the even more crucial battle farther north for Mosul, the self-declared capital of the Islamic State. Around 700 fighters loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr arrived to take part in the operation south of Tikrit, joining a force of more than 30,000 pro-government fighters, two-thirds of them members of a mainly Shiite militia known as popular mobilization forces. And in the southern city of Basra on Thursday, a new Sunni militia organized by the religious establishment declared it was joining the popular mobilization effort, officials said.
Kurdish pesh merga and Sunni tribal fighters were continuing on Friday to advance on Islamic State territory from the northern city of Kirkuk, military officials said, on a front that would also be important in the battle for Mosul.
Mr. Sadr’s loyalists had sat out recent battles after he said he was “freezing” their participation, in part because of allegations of atrocities committed by Shiite militias in Diyala and Anbar Provinces after driving out Islamic State militants.
But last week, the cleric called on his militias, known as the Peace Brigades, to prepare to mobilize for possible participation in a campaign to take back Mosul. He declared that they had a better reputation than other militias and that their participation would tone down the sectarian flavor of the fight.
Compared with other militia leaders, Mr. Sadr has been seen as being less close to Iran recently, and his fighters have not been accused of recent abuses.
Hakim al-Zamili, the leader of Mr. Sadr’s parliamentary bloc and the head of the Parliament’s security and defense committee, said that in his visits to Anbar and other provinces struggling with Islamic State, he was repeatedly told: “You have strong fighters and trainers who haven’t made any violations. Why don’t you take part in the battles?”
He said Mr. Sadr was also concerned that the expected battle for Mosul was being delayed and wanted to offer the assistance of his forces.
Iraqi government troops would be unlikely to mount an assault on Mosul without the participation of the militia forces, whose numbers are much greater than the regular armed forces, which largely evaporated in the north when the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, attacked. But United States officials have balked at direct cooperation with Shiite militias — Mr. Sadr’s fighters killed many American troops during their occupation of Iraq — and at being advised by Iranian military officials, who are playing a leading role.
Some of the Sadr fighters were assigned to protect Shiite shrines in the city of Samarra south of Tikrit, where in 2006 Qaeda-linked Sunni insurgents blew up the revered Al Askari shrine, igniting a round of sectarian reprisal killings.
Iraqi Sunnis have harbored fears of reprisals from the Shiite-dominated Iraqi forces in the Tikrit campaign, but images broadcast by state television on Friday showed Sunni residents of the village of Al Alam on the city’s northern outskirts greeting forces joyfully.
Ahmed Salah contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an employee of The New York Times from Salahuddin Province.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
3/13/2015
Shiite fighters in northern Tikrit as Iraqi security forces backed by militia fought to capture positions held by the Islamic State on Thursday.
BAGHDAD — Iraqi government forces and allied militias continued on Friday to battle Islamic State militants who defended their remaining positions in the city of Tikrit with snipers and roadside bombs. As officials called for unity against the militant group, which swept into much of Iraq’s north and west last year, and declared that the fight was an Iraqi national objective, rather than a Shiite or Iranian one, new factions showed their readiness to join the conflict, albeit in relatively small numbers. That signaled not only a broadening of the Iraqi fight against the Islamic State, but also probably an expansion of the maneuvering by rival groups to share a measure of credit for an expected victory and to position themselves to take part in the even more crucial battle farther north for Mosul, the self-declared capital of the Islamic State. Around 700 fighters loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr arrived to take part in the operation south of Tikrit, joining a force of more than 30,000 pro-government fighters, two-thirds of them members of a mainly Shiite militia known as popular mobilization forces. And in the southern city of Basra on Thursday, a new Sunni militia organized by the religious establishment declared it was joining the popular mobilization effort, officials said.
Kurdish pesh merga and Sunni tribal fighters were continuing on Friday to advance on Islamic State territory from the northern city of Kirkuk, military officials said, on a front that would also be important in the battle for Mosul.
Mr. Sadr’s loyalists had sat out recent battles after he said he was “freezing” their participation, in part because of allegations of atrocities committed by Shiite militias in Diyala and Anbar Provinces after driving out Islamic State militants.
But last week, the cleric called on his militias, known as the Peace Brigades, to prepare to mobilize for possible participation in a campaign to take back Mosul. He declared that they had a better reputation than other militias and that their participation would tone down the sectarian flavor of the fight.
Compared with other militia leaders, Mr. Sadr has been seen as being less close to Iran recently, and his fighters have not been accused of recent abuses.
Hakim al-Zamili, the leader of Mr. Sadr’s parliamentary bloc and the head of the Parliament’s security and defense committee, said that in his visits to Anbar and other provinces struggling with Islamic State, he was repeatedly told: “You have strong fighters and trainers who haven’t made any violations. Why don’t you take part in the battles?”
He said Mr. Sadr was also concerned that the expected battle for Mosul was being delayed and wanted to offer the assistance of his forces.
Iraqi government troops would be unlikely to mount an assault on Mosul without the participation of the militia forces, whose numbers are much greater than the regular armed forces, which largely evaporated in the north when the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, attacked. But United States officials have balked at direct cooperation with Shiite militias — Mr. Sadr’s fighters killed many American troops during their occupation of Iraq — and at being advised by Iranian military officials, who are playing a leading role.
Some of the Sadr fighters were assigned to protect Shiite shrines in the city of Samarra south of Tikrit, where in 2006 Qaeda-linked Sunni insurgents blew up the revered Al Askari shrine, igniting a round of sectarian reprisal killings.
Iraqi Sunnis have harbored fears of reprisals from the Shiite-dominated Iraqi forces in the Tikrit campaign, but images broadcast by state television on Friday showed Sunni residents of the village of Al Alam on the city’s northern outskirts greeting forces joyfully.
Ahmed Salah contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an employee of The New York Times from Salahuddin Province.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
