Iraqi City of Tikrit Falls to Jihadist Insurgents
June 11, 2014
Islamist insurgents in Iraq today seized the northern city of Tikrit, just one day after taking Mosul, a city of some 2 million residents. The Sunni insurgents also occupied the strategic oil-refining town of Baiji, including the Baiji power station, which supplies electric power to Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Salahuddin province. A column of insurgent forces was reported to be driving toward Baghdad, which is only 95 miles (150 kilometers) south of Tikrit. Fighting is also reported in Samarra, 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Baghdad.
The insurgents–known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)–now hold considerable territory in western and north-central Iraq as well as in eastern Syria. While Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has vowed to repel the jihadists, Iraqi army soldiers are deserting by the thousands. Leaving behind their weapons and uniforms, soldiers have disappeared into the estimated 500,000 people who have fled Mosul by foot. In the years following the U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2003, the United States spent $14 billion building an Iraqi army to safeguard the country after U.S. forces withdrew.
A second city in northern Iraq, Tikrit, has fallen to insurgents, who are reportedly advancing on Baghdad. (World Book map)
ISIS, which grew out of an al-Qa`ida-related terrorist organization in Iraq, is believed to have from 3,000 to 5,000 fighters in the country. Other members are in eastern Syria, fighting in the Syrian civil war. Facing the same jihadist adversary, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today expressed solidarity with Prime Minister al-Maliki and the Iraqi armed forces. International affairs experts suggest that the Syrian civil war has, in fact, spread across the border into Iraq.
Additional World Book articles:
- Iraq War
- Iraq 2012 (a Back in Time article)
- Iraq 2013 (a Back in Time article)
- Syria 2013 (a Back in Time article)
- The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
- Syria: The Roots of a Rebellion (a special report)
