Tikrit Reclaimed from Islamic State
March 11, 2015
The Iraqi army, aided mainly by forces from Shi`ite militias and Iran, have come close to retaking Tikrit, a strategically important Iraqi city. Tikrit has been under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS) since June 2014. Tikrit is one of four cities—the others being Baghdad, Baqubah, and Ramadi—that form the Sunni Triangle, an area populated mostly by Sunni Muslims that was the center of heavy resistance against the U.S.-led coalition during the Iraq War (2003-2011). Anti-ISIS Sunni militias are also aiding the effort to liberate Tikrit.
Islamic State (ISIS) fighters during a military parade shown in propaganda photos released by the militants in 2014. Credit: © Alamy Images
The offensive to retake Tikrit began on March 2. After more than a week’s fierce fighting, Iraqi forces finally penetrated ISIS territory. The fighting involved around 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and allied Shi‘ite militia. Yesterday, Iraq announced that large areas of the city had been recaptured. North of Tikrit, Kurdish forces are also fighting ISIS, so the group is being hemmed in from several directions. The United States sat out this fight, uncomfortable with the use of Shi`ite militia in a heavily Sunni area. Some experts feared that the sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shi`ites, especially after a massacre of Shi`ite soldiers by ISIS last summer, makes revenge killings by Shi`ites against Sunnis a danger in the area. The next step is for Iraq to retake the city of Mosul, where ISIS has killed thousands of people and destroyed numerous ancient artifacts, often with bulldozers and explosives. Since early March, ISIS has also destroyed the Assyrian sites of Nimrud and Khorsabad and the Parthian site of Hatra.
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