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.

Other World Book articles:

• Iraq (2014-a Back in Time article)
• Iraq War

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)