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Iraqi forces gather for push into Tikrit after U.S. airstrikes seek to clear path Iraqi Shiite militias balk at offensive if U.S. airstrikes are involved
(about 2 hours later)
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s defense minister said Thursday that ground forces would attempt to retake Tikrit “very soon” after U.S. warplanes began airstrikes that seek to clear the way into the strategic city held by the Islamic State. BAGHDAD — Iraqi militia forces that have led the fight against Islamic State militants in Tikrit balked at U.S. intervention Thursday, saying that although most would remain in their positions, they will refuse to proceed with an offensive on the city.
The opening of the U.S. airstrikes drew Washington into a battle that has pitted the militants against Iraqi forces dominated by Iranian-backed militias. One Shiite militia, Kitaeb Hezbollah, which is designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, said it would go as far as shooting down any plane belonging to the U.S.-led coalition in the area.
Another militia announced that it intends to withdraw.
The opening of the U.S. airstrikes in Tikrit on Wednesday drew Washington into a battle that has pitted the militants against Iraqi forces dominated by Iranian-backed militias, many of which are hostile to the United States.
An estimated 20,000 ground troops involved in the Tikrit offensive belong to what are known as “popular mobilization units” — an affiliation of Shiite volunteer fighters that formed after a call to arms from Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric but which has also become an umbrella for Shiite militia groups.
Although the United States wants Shiite militias off the battlefield, Iraqi officials have indicated that they plan for at least part of the popular mobilizations to be included in a new offensive for the city. That sets Haider al-Abadi’s government up for a potentially embarrassing public power struggle. Although the Iraqi government claims to control the mobilization units, militia leaders say the units follow their command.
If the freeze stands, it will mean that official Iraqi security forces, which have so far played a limited role in the fight, will be left to clear Tikrit alone.
The fight for Tikrit is considered a crucial test in the wider fight to drive the Islamic State from strongholds in northern Iraq, including Mosul, which has been the symbol and center of Islamic State power in Iraq since the militants took it last summer.
“All the popular mobilization will refuse to fight until the American airstrikes stop,” said Moeen al-Khadami, head of the popular mobilization committee on Baghdad’s provincial council. “Let them try to do it without us. America is just trying to steal our victory.”
The Iranian-advised offensive for Tikrit has stalled for more than a week, after initially advancing with relative ease across surrounding Salahuddin province.
Khadami said that leaders of the units had held an emergency meeting Thursday before coming to the decision to remain in their positions but refuse to fight.
Less than 24 hours before, Abadi had praised the work of the popular mobilizations as he announced a new push for Tikrit.
During a news conference at an airbase in Baghdad on Thursday morning, Khaled al-Obeidi,Iraq’s defense minister, said that the popular mobilization units were under government control and that there was no power struggle. He said the ground offensive for Tikrit was due to begin “very soon.”
Contrary to statements from Washington, he also said there had been no change in Iraqi ground forces.
Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of U.S. Central Command, told U.S. senators Thursday that about 4,000 members of Iraqi government security forces were taking part in operations in Tikrit west of the river Tigris. He said Shiite militias and popular mobilization forces were not taking part in those operations; he said the militias had “pulled back.”
Austin said that the U.S. government had imposed preconditions for launching airstrikes, including information on which forces were on ground and a “credible scheme of maneuver” for the operation.
But Shiite militia commanders said their forces were not pulling back.
“We will be ready to launch an offensive when the coalition forces stop bombing,” said Naim Abboudi, a spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of Iraq’s most prominent Shiite militias. “We are suspending activities.”
Citing the widely held belief in Iraq that the United States has been dropping supplies to Islamic State militants, Kitaeb Hezbollah said it would consider any plane from the U.S.-led coalition a target.
“If we see any American aircraft or coalition aircraft in Tikrit, it will be a target,” said Jafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for Kitaeb Hezbollah. “We have the capabilities to shoot them down.”
Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Peace Brigades, which have played a limited role in the Tikrit operation and only just returned to the battlefield after a pause, was the only militia to announce it was withdrawing its fighters.
“If the public mobilization units aren’t going to fight, it’s an embarrassing break of solidarity,” said Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It won’t be as easy without them, but what they lose with the [units], they gain in intelligence and strike capability.”
With a relatively small area of ground to cover and only about 300 Islamic State fighters estimated to have been in the city before the offensive began, the Iraqi army, with the federal police and counterterrorism forces, have the potential to complete the operation, he said.
In the first waves of air attacks, U.S. and Iraqi warplanes targeted Islamic State militants in a sprawling presidential complex in central Tikrit, Iraqi officials said Thursday.In the first waves of air attacks, U.S. and Iraqi warplanes targeted Islamic State militants in a sprawling presidential complex in central Tikrit, Iraqi officials said Thursday.
The strikes, which began late Wednesday, will be followed by a ground offensive “very soon,” Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said Thursday as he saw off Iraqi pilots leaving for more raids on the city.
The grounds of the city’s presidential palace, built by Saddam Hussein and now the Islamic State’s main stronghold in Tikrit, about 110 miles northwest of Baghdad, were the target for three morning sorties by Iraqi planes, air force officials said. The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State said it had conducted 17 airstrikes overnight using fighter jets, bombers and drones.The grounds of the city’s presidential palace, built by Saddam Hussein and now the Islamic State’s main stronghold in Tikrit, about 110 miles northwest of Baghdad, were the target for three morning sorties by Iraqi planes, air force officials said. The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State said it had conducted 17 airstrikes overnight using fighter jets, bombers and drones.
[The struggle to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown][The struggle to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown]
The fight for Tikrit is considered a crucial test in the wider fight to drive the Islamic State from strongholds in northern Iraq, including Mosul. The city has been the symbol and center of Islamic State power in Iraq since the militants took it last summer.
“The ongoing Iraqi and coalition air strikes are setting the conditions for offensive action to be conducted by Iraqi forces currently surrounding Tikrit,” Lt. Gen. James Terry, the commander of the U.S.-led campaign, said in a statement. “Iraqi security forces supported by the coalition will continue to gain territory.”
Coalition planes struck an Islamic State-occupied building, a command and control facility, two bridges, three checkpoints and two staging areas, as well as berms and roadblocks, the statement said.
But the Tikrit operation is fraught with potential political and strategic complications for the Obama administration.
The overwhelming presence of Shiite militias and volunteers armed and advised by Iran has given rise to fears that their victory would promote sectarian divisions and bloodletting in the majority-Sunni city.
U.S. officials have estimated that the Shiite fighters outnumber official Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribal forces by about 5-to-1 in the battle.
Militias leaders on Thursday said they were suspending their operations in Tikrit following the coalition’s involvement.
“We don’t trust the international coalition, especially the United States,” said Naim al-Abboudi, a spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-backed militia. He said the group suspected that the United States would also strike their positions.
Kitaeb Hezbollah, a Shiite militia designated a terrorist organization by the United States, said in a statement that the coalition was attempting to take credit for its operations. Jafar al-Husseini, a spokesman for the group, said it had stopped fighting and was deciding whether to withdraw completely.
Powerful Sunni Arab states that are part of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State, including Saudi Arabia, have warned against the growing regional power of Shiite Iran. In Yemen, a Saudi-led force began airstrikes Thursday against Shiite rebels believed to be backed by Tehran.
In Washington, some lawmakers have charged that President Obama is allowing Iran to expand its influence in Iraq to avoid undermining separate nuclear negotiations with Tehran whose deadline is next week.
But U.S. officials, insisting the two issues are not linked, have said that victory over the Islamic State has to be the first order of business in Iraq and have indicated that they welcomed Iranian assistance there.
[Tikrit : gateway to north for Iraqi forces][Tikrit : gateway to north for Iraqi forces]
Although U.S. aircraft that have bombed other parts of Iraq have stayed away from the area until now to avoid appearing to be aiding the Iranian-backed forces, the battlefield stasis in Tikrit apparently forced a change of heart.
Lt. Col. Brian Fickel, a spokesman for Gen. Lloyd Austin III, head of the U.S. Central Command, said that Iraqi security forces were in command of the Tikrit operation and that the United States and its allies were coordinating with those forces, not Iranian-backed paramilitaries.
“We do not coordinate our operations in any way with Iran,” he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the new push for Tikrit in a televised address Wednesday night, saying that the city’s “hour of salvation” had come. He did not specifically mention coalition airstrikes, but he said, “We will liberate each inch of Iraq. The victory of Iraq is being achieved by Iraqis, hero Iraqis . . . with support from friendly countries and the international coalition.”
After making an initial rapid advance across territory surrounding militant-held Tikrit that led to the issuance of triumphant reports of victory, the Iraqi offensive has been stalled for more than a week amid high casualties. If Iraqi forces cannot operate efficiently in capturing Tikrit, the all-important battle for Mosul is likely to be postponed.
Karen DeYoung and Missy Ryan in Washington contributed to this report.Karen DeYoung and Missy Ryan in Washington contributed to this report.
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