Over 97 Districts Liberated in Tikrit

The Iraqi army, backed by popular forces, has succeeded in liberating over 97 districts from the control of the ISIL in Salahuddin province, as Tikrit’s liberation operation goes on, a military source said.

The army troops, in the first phase of Iraq’s major offensive to liberate Tiktrit, have made major advances in their fight against the ISIL in strategic province of Salahuddin, and have so far freed more than 97 districts and sub-districts from the control of the terrorist group, said Iraq’s Ministry of Defense in a statement on Wednesday.

“The first stage of the security operations succeeded in liberating 97 districts and sub-districts in Salahuddin province,” the statement said.

According to Head of Salahuddin’s Security Committee Khalid Khazraji on Wednesday, the Iraqi troops continued to make more gains in their fight against the ISIL terrorists in the nearby areas of Tikrit, inflicting hefty losses on the Takfiri group by launching attacks from three different directions.

He said that the Iraqi soldiers in cooperation with the popular forces had made major advances in their confrontation with the terrorist group, and added, “Iraqi security forces, local police, al-Hashd al-Sha’bi and tribal fighters managed to besiege the city from three sides.”

He added, “The first direction is the Southern hub in Tikrit Hospital, the second is the Western hub which is a main street controlled by the forces.”

Khazraji further said, “The third direction is the North, starting from al-Teen neighborhood, Qadisiyah neighborhood and the School of Education.”

He continued that the army troops are moving towards the city center and plan to flush out the remnants of the terrorists from the recently-liberated areas in Tikrit.

 

Iran Helping Iraq to Overcome Evil

Iraqi troops and allied volunteer forces have launched a large-scale operation in Salahuddin province to liberate the strategic city of Tikrit.

Backed by Iranian military advisers and using aircraft and artillery, the Iraqi armed forces have already recaptured a number of districts around the city, including parts of the Qadisiyah neighborhood. But that’s not the news. The real news is that all this is happening without any support whatsoever from the United States and its coalition.

In fact, the large-scale offensive has caught the Obama Administration off guard. The Pentagon has confirmed they have no coordination with the Iraqis on the operation, and have not been requested to provide any air support!

Pentagon officials are expressing concerns about the lack of US involvement too – a reflection of how important Iran is as Iraq’s got-to ally. It’s an understandable position for the Iraqi government too, as the US and its coalition are not cooperating with Iran and Syria – two major combatant forces battling ISIL in the same war.

The Iraqis, however, have every reason to be skeptical of the US-led coalition, mainly because US air wars always victimize innocent civilians; the US is relying on Saudi Arabia and Qatar that created ISIL; and the US military has little credibility to sway public opinion in the direction of its coalition. That explains why Iraq has decided that Iranian support is better than US warplanes.

As it stands, Tikrit is one of the biggest cities held by ISIL. It sits on the road to Mosul, which is held by the extremists. Any operation to take Mosul likely would require Iraq to seize Tikrit first because of its strategic location for military enforcements.

The strategic city will soon be liberated, paving the way for the next big push: The liberation of Mosul. But this could only happen if the Iraqis believe themselves to be liberators of their country. In the interim, they can count on Iran in the fight against evil.

 

The latest report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, catalogues the human rights atrocities committed by ISIL, making it abundantly clear that this group is evil. They include:

–Attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure

–Executions and targeted killings of civilians

–Abductions, rape and sexual violence against women and children

–Slavery and trafficking of women and children

–Forced recruitment of children

–Destruction or desecration of places of religious/cultural significance

–Destruction and looting of property, and denial of fundamental freedoms

The UN report goes on to identify the targeting of ethnic and religious groups as a deliberate policy aimed at destroying, suppressing and expelling these communities. The report describes the actions as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide.

FNA

R.S