"All the battles to the city of Mosul will be carried out by Iraqi forces exclusively; in planning, timing and execution," the Iraqi minister, Khalid al-Obiedi, told reports at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Ismet Yilmaz in Baghdad.
"Iraq will not ask for assistance of any other forces for the battles against IS militants," Obiedi said, adding that the US-led coalition will be restricted on the air support.
- For his part, Yilmaz said the Iraqi government, headed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, is representing all Iraqi factions, and that Turkey pledges to "cooperate with Iraq in the areas of security and intelligence to stop the expansion of terrorism in the region.
Yilmaz arrived in Baghdad just a day after his country sent two plane-loads of non-lethal military aid to Iraq, including camouflage desert caps, assault vests, helmets, sleeping bags, blankets for 500 soldiers, and 50 cold weather tents, according to the Turkish semi-official Anatolia news agency.
The Turkish minister will later fly to the city of Arbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, for talks with the Kurdish leaders.
Yilmaz's visit also came as the Iraqi security forces have been launching a major offensive in Salahudin province to free its key cities and towns from the IS militants.
The extremist group has controlled the country's northern province of Nineveh in early June last year and seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in other predominantly Sunni provinces.
Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
4/3/15
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Iraqi forces tried for a third day to close in on ISIS in Tikrit, as the top U.S. military officer said Iran’s role in the offensive could be positive, provided the battle did not become sectarian...
ReplyDeleteAround 30,000 security forces and allied fighters Monday launched the biggest anti-ISIS ground operation yet in Iraq, closing in on Tikrit from at least three directions.
A senior commander said operations were focused on cutting supply lines of weapons and reinforcements to the jihadis, who have held the city since June.
The next step will be to “surround the towns completely, suffocate them and then pounce on them,” Lt. Gen. Abdel-Amir al-Zaidi told AFP.
Irak: l'armée tente d'encercler Tikrit, la bataille appelée à durer...
ReplyDeleteLes forces gouvernementales irakiennes tentaient mercredi d'encercler les jihadistes du groupe Etat islamique (EI) dans les environs de Tikrit, en coupant notamment leurs lignes d'approvisionnement, au troisième jour d'une vaste offensive appelée à durer pour reprendre cette ville stratégique.
Appuyées par des miliciens chiites et des tribus sunnites, les forces armées étaient à plus de 20 km de la ville de Tikrit, située à 160 km au nord de Bagdad.
Les "opérations se poursuivent conformément au plan préparé", a déclaré un officier à Samarra, la deuxième ville de la province de Salaheddine. "Nos forces avancent lentement et méthodiquement", en raison des tireurs embusqués et des bombes placées au bord des routes................http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_irak-l-armee-tente-d-encercler-tikrit-la-bataille-appelee-a-durer?id=8922709
5/3/15
Concern mounted Wednesday over the fate of civilians in Tikrit where Iraqi forces were trying to trap Islamic State group militants on the third day of a huge offensive to retake the city...
ReplyDeleteAround 30,000 security forces and allied fighters launched Monday the biggest anti-IS ground operation yet in Iraq, closing in on Tikrit from at least three directions.
A senior commander said operations were focused on cutting supply lines of weapons and reinforcements to the militants, who seized the city since June.
The next step will be to "surround the towns completely, suffocate them and then pounce on them," Lieutenant General Abdel Amir al-Zaidi told AFP.
On Wednesday, the United States warned the offensive must not fuel sectarian tensions.
"It is important... that this operation should not be used as an excuse or as cover for individuals taking sectarian-motivated retribution," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest...............http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/124507.aspx
5/3/15
Islamic State militants have set fire to oil wells in the Ajil field east of the city of Tikrit to try to hinder aerial attacks aimed at driving them from the oilfield, a witness and military source said...
ReplyDeleteBlack smoke could be seen rising from oil field since Wednesday afternoon, said the witness, who accompanied Iraqi militia and soldiers as they advanced on Tikrit from the east.
Before the Islamic State took over the field in June it produced 25,000 barrels per day of crude that were shipped to the Kirkuk refinery, as well as 150 million cubic feet of gas per day piped to the government-controlled Kirkuk power station.
An engineer at the site told Reuters last July that Islamic State fighters were pumping lower volumes of oil from Ajil, fearing that their primitive extraction techniques could ignite the gas..................http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Islamic-State-torches-oil-field-east-of-Tikrit-393013
5/3/15
A military operation to retake the Iraqi city of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS) has caused about 28,000 people to flee their homes, the UN says...
ReplyDeleteThose displaced are headed towards the city of Samarra, the UN said, but many families are stranded at checkpoints.
Aid convoys carrying relief supplies are being sent to the area by UN agencies to help those affected.
The operation to retake Tikrit, involving some 30,000 soldiers and Shia militiamen, is now in its fourth day.
They are trying to encircle the IS fighters, but their advance has been slow due to the roadside bombs and booby traps planted since the city was overrun last June, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.
Iraqi jets and helicopters are supporting the ground troops but US-led coalition aircraft are not involved.
Militants also set fire to oil wells outside the city on Thursday, officials said, creating clouds of smoke in an apparent bid to obscure targets from air strikes................http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31753727
5/3/15