Iraqi Shia Militia and Security Forces Retake Al-Alam

Major Victory for General Soleimani

Iran-led coalition of Iraq’s People’s Mobilization Forces (PMF), the umbrella organization of the country’s predominantly Shia militias, Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), elements of Sunni tribal fighters and the Quds Force advisers and personnel, under the command of Quds Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani, today retook the town of al-Alam, on the northern edge of Tikrit.

The coalition had already blocked ISIL’s positions north, south, and west of Tikrit, and has now encircled the city held by ISIL insurgents. The recapture of al-Alam was the immediate goal of the operation, which would be used as the staging ground to enter into Tikrit City. This is a major victory for Soleimani and his forces.

Photo credit: PMF and ISF fighters preparing to launch mortar shells and rockets against ISIL positions outside Tikrit; 4 March 2015 (AP)

IRGC operating artillery, MLRS and UAVs at Battle of Tikrit

Above: Iraqi force utilizing Iran-supplied Safir tactical vehicle fitted with M40 recoilless rifle, and formerly U.S.-supplied to Iraqi Army HMMWV.

According to the New York Times:

Shiite militia leaders said that their fighters made up more than two-thirds of the pro-government force of 30,000, and that the Iranian spymaster Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was helping to lead from near the front lines.

Alongside them were advisers and troops from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, operating artillery, rocket launchers and surveillance drones, according to American officials…

[…]

But progress appeared slow in the push against Tikrit on Tuesday, with no breakthrough in the Iraqi coalition’s efforts to enter the city. Iraqi military officials said they had reached the outskirts of Al Dour, just south of the city, and were advancing slowly after freeing 13 police officers held there by the Islamic State.

Mohammad al-Turkomani, a leader in the militias known as the “popular mobilization” forces, said that with American participation in Tikrit, “we would have moved twice as fast.”

[…]

For their part, Iraqi officials increasingly complain that American support has not been as robust as Iran’s. Many Iraqis resent what they see as American squeamishness about the militias, which by all accounts have been crucial to holding back the Islamic State after regular army units fled its assault.

“Americans consider us a militia that does not represent the government, while we are defending the country and helping the government,” said Mueen al-Kadhimy, a leader in the Badr Organization, a prominent militia. “We are the people of Iraq.”

COMMENTARY: The Battle of Tikrit is expected to be a tough slog for Iraq and the Iran-led coalition against ISIL, without U.S.-led coalition tactical air power.

Much is on the line for the Iranians in terms of regional martial regard. Their coalition forces are said to be providing 2/3 of the said 30,000 force committed to the larger military operation.

The Iranians have a previous set of limited military successes in Iraq; before that more mixed results in Syria, where they've at a minimum been able to maintain the Syrian Arab Republic against a field of adversarial forces.

In the Battle of Tikrit, the Iran-led coalition and ISF forces appear to possess advantages of overwhelming numbers and materiel. Envisioned battle duration is for ten days or beyond, with logistics identified as a potential determining factor for whether or not the battle devolves into a relatively lengthy siege.

Iran-supplied Fath Safir ("Ambassador") tactical vehicle fitted with 107 mm MLRS

Photo of IRGC-QF Commander Soleimani, said taken near the front during Battle of Tikrit

Iraqi Army and Shia Militia Launch Operation to Retake Tikrit - UPDATE

The ground operation to retake Tikrit and its surrounding areas has begun. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), backed by Shia militia, attacked ISIL stronghold north of Samarra on Monday at the start of a campaign aimed at driving the insurgents out of mainly Sunni province of Salah ad-Din.

The Iranian-backed Shia militia and ISF cleared Balad-Samarra corridor in southern part of the province in their successful late December/early January offensive against the Islamic State. The northern part, including Tikrit and Baiji, had been overrun by ISIL in their June offensive. Last year, ISF and militia forces had made unsuccessful attempts to retake the area.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was in Samarra on Sunday, declaring that the liberation of all Salah ad-Din towns had started. Thousands of troops and Shia militia had gathered there for the offensive.

Tikrit, home of deposed president Saddam Hussein, was the scene of ISIL’s massacre of hundreds of ISF members kidnapped from the nearby Camp Speicher last year. 

The pace of progress in Salah ad-Din could affect plans to retake Mosul further north. ISIL has entrenched itself in Tikrit and is expected to mount strong resistance.

UPDATE - From ISW’s Iraq Situation Report, 2 March:
“Intense clashes erupted today as the ISF, Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'a militias, and Iraqi Sunni anti-ISIS fighters advanced toward ISIS positions on the outskirts of the Tikrit and strategic areas south, north, and east of the city.”

Photo credit: ISF and Shia militia fighters gathering near Samarra on Sunday in preparation for their offensive to liberate Tikrit. (Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters/csmonitor)

Iraqi minister of defense, in the news

Still from an Iraqi MOD video posted 08DEC14 of Iraqi Minister of Defense Dr. Khalid al-Obeidi, seen saluting upon disembarking from IqAF Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 "Super Hercules" transport aircraft at Camp Speicher (ORSH).

Of note,  US DSCA announced the last week of November that the Government of Iraq requested a possible 5-year sustainment package for its C-130E/J fleet that includes operational, intermediate, and depot level maintenance, spare and repair parts, support equipment, repair and return, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics and program support. Estimated cost is $800M, and American observers are somewhat skeptical of this request given the poor performance of Iraq's military against ISIL, and the current, cheap price of crude oil. [source: Defense Industry Daily]

Interesting to see the Iraqi minister's adoption of tan CWU27/P nomex fire-retardant flight suit. He wears a distinctive ID patch marked "MINISTER.O.D".

YouTube video posted 08DEC14 depicting Iraqi Minister of Defense Dr. Khalid al-Obeidi at this week's tour of recently liberated Baiji refinery and University of Tikrit.

YouTube video posted 08DEC14 depicting Iraqi Minister of Defense Dr. Khalid al-Obeidi at this week's tour  of Kadhimiya (northern Baghdad). During the last question posed by a member of the press, he is asked about Russian arms developments for Iraq. The minister responds "there's been a few complications regarding recent deliveries."

Photo of outgoing U.S. SecDef Chuck Hagel (right) with Iraqi MOD Dr. Khalid al-Obeidi dated 09DEC14 in Baghdad. [photo: AP]

Iraqi leadership reportedly told SecDef Hagel on Tuesday that their army is "taking the offensive" against the Islamic State group but needs more air power and heavy weaponry to prevail.

Iraqi Counter Offensive at Tikrit Said to Stall

The Iraqi army launched a fresh offensive Tuesday to recapture the city of Tikrit, but initial reports suggested the offensive had stalled amid stiff resistance from Islamic State fighters, the Washington Post reported today.

Iraqi security forces were backed by Shia militia group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), and Iraqi ground attack fighter jets pushed toward Tikrit in a three-pronged offensive after dawn Tuesday. This is the second counter offensive by the Iraqi military and the Iranian-backed AAH to retake Tikrit. In mid-July, their offensive failed and their forces had to retreat from the area.

Tikrit was overrun by the Islamic State in early June.

UPDATE: By midday Tuesday local time, the Iraqi army units and Shia militias were bogged down at least 6 miles from the entrance to the city and reports from the area indicate that they are apparently withdrawing south toward Samara. The operation to recapture Tikrit was the second major counter offensive by the Iraqi army since the current conflict began in June; both times to retake the same city, and now it appears that both times the army and its Shia militia allies have been beaten back by the Islamic State fighters.

File photo: Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service troops at a checkpoint near Mosul Dam. (AFP)

Battle for Tikrit Rages On

Iraqi security forces today continued the campaign against ISIL-led insurgents to retake Tikrit, which was overran by the insurgents on 11 June as they swept large parts of northern Iraq. Iraqi ground troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships launched a three-pronged pre-dawn attack on Tikrit on Saturday. The heavy fighting has resulted in many casualties on both sides, eyewitnesses and journalists reported from the scene. The troops were reportedly meeting stiff resistance and a provincial official told the Associated Press on Sunday that the insurgents have retained control of the most of the city.

Photo: Iraqi security forces launched a campaign to retake Tikrit. (The New York Times)

Tikrit Falls to ISIL

Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants overran the Iraqi city of Tikrit today, only a day after they captured Mosul. “All of Tikrit is in the hands of the militant,” a police colonel told AFP. A police brigadier general told AFP that fighters attacked Tikrit from the north, west and south of the city, and that they were from ISIL. (AFP/Al Jazeera, 11 June)

Tikrit lies on the strategic Baghdad-Mosul highway, halfway between the two cities. The city is the provincial capital of Salaheddin, the second provincial capital to fall in two days after Mosul, which is the capital of Nineveh, deepening the crisis in Iraq.

AFP, quoting a police officer, reports that the militants had freed 300 inmates from a prison in the city. Yesterday, ISIL freed more than thousands of prisoners in Mosul.

In Mosul, ISIL looted 500 billion dinars ($429 million) from city's branch of Iraqi Central Bank, making it one of the world’s richest terrorist groups.

Meanwhile, ISIL fighters today attacked the city of Kirkuk, home to Iraq’s biggest oil refinery. Also in Samarra, south of Tikrit, witnesses told AFP that that fighters had arrived in trucks mounted with machine guns.

Map: Al Jazeera