Battle for Tikrit

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Battle for Tikrit
Hand drawing of the front line at the beginning of the offensive and on March 9, 2015.
Hand drawing of the front line at the beginning of the offensive and on March 9, 2015.
date March 1, 2015 to March 31, 2015
place Tikrit
output Conflict over, victory of the Iraqi government army
Parties to the conflict

Flag of Iraq.svg Iraqi army and Sunni and Shiite militias

Flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant2.svg Islamic State

Commander

Haider al-Abadi

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Troop strength
20,000-30,000 13,000

The battle for Tikrit lasted from March 1 to March 31, 2015. An alliance of fighters from Sunnis , Shiites and the Iraqi army made it possible to defeat the Iraqi city of Tikrit , which has been held by the terrorist Sunni militia Islamic State (IS) since 2014 , 160 km northwest of Baghdad , to be retaken. The city was considered a stronghold of the IS.

background

Tikrit is a Sunni city with probably well over 100,000 inhabitants. It was the headquarters of the Saddam Hussein clan . Tikrit has been in the hands of IS since June 2014. A connecting road runs through the city between the capital Baghdad and the city of Mosul, which was also occupied by IS at the time . The course and outcome of the battle for Tikrit was the starting point and decisive for the announced reconquest of the metropolis of Mosul in the following battle for Mosul . The Shiite units described the offensive as revenge for the Tikrit massacre , in which several hundred Iraqi soldiers were executed by IS near the Camp Speicher military base outside Tikrit in the summer of 2014. A few days before the start of the Iraqi offensive, Tall Hamis was retaken by Aramaic-Assyrian units in northeast Syria .

course

In the first days of the battle, around 28,000 residents fled the city. In total, over 30,000 soldiers were deployed by the coalition against IS. About two thirds of them were militias. In the eastern section of the front lines, the Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani was an adviser and leader on the part of the coalition . The attack on the city came from three directions. IS defended itself mainly with booby traps , land mines , suicide bombers in vehicles and snipers . A protracted house-to-house war was expected for the conquest of the city . The Iraqi Air Force supported the attack. The Iraqi government has not made a request for air support from the United States. Australia increased the number of its soldiers as instructors in Iraq to about 440; New Zealand provided 140 soldiers as trainers.

In the first few days the coalition took a few smaller towns east of the city of Tikrit. On March 6th, the Iraqi army announced the capture of Al-Dur in the south. After Al-Alam, northeast of Tikrit, was captured, the city was encircled on March 9, 2015. On March 10, 2015, it was reported that IS had rendered the only bridge over the Tigris unusable; a segment at the western end of the bridge had been blown up. Saddam Hussein's mausoleum was destroyed by IS militias.

On March 11, 2015, the Allied forces managed to advance into the center of Tikrit and partially control the Kadissija district. The military hospital was also captured. On March 13, 2015, the Iraqi government announced that it had control of most of the city. The remaining part of the IS was estimated by Main Al-Kadhimi, commander of the militia al-Hashd asch-Shaʿbī , at only 150 fighters. On March 14, 2015, IS held three districts and Saddam Hussein's palace in Tikrit. The final takeover of control was delayed because thousands of explosive devices had to be defused and the last scattered IS fighters had to be tracked down. On March 26, 2015, it was reported that the Shiite militia had withdrawn and left the further fight to the Iraqi military and Iraqi police units; the US Air Force launched attacks against IS positions in the city; the bridge over the Tigris had been repaired. On March 31, 2015 it was announced that the strategically important seat of the provincial government had been recaptured. On April 1, 2015 it was announced that downtown Tikrit had been liberated and that there were only a few pockets of resistance in the north of the city.

The number of deaths on the side of the attackers was high; the number of 1,000 militiamen who died in the first days of the war is circulating. After the end of the battle, mass graves with victims of IS were found.

Reactions

In the context of the battle, voices were repeatedly raised fearing attacks by Shiites against the Sunnis. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister , Saud ibn Faisal , criticized a significant increase in Iran's influence over Iraq.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Omar Al-Jawoshy: Iraqi offensive to retake Tikrit From ISIS Begins. In: New York Times . March 2, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  2. ↑ ISIS leaders pull back from Tikrit amid massive Iraqi assault on stronghold - reports. In: RT . March 3, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b Snipers and booby traps against the offensive. In: The world . March 3, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Liberation of Tikrit: Iraq's army launches offensive against IS. In: Spiegel Online . March 1, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  5. ↑ a b Ahmed Rasheed: Iraqi army and militias surround Isis in major offensive in the battle for Tikrit. In: The Independent . March 3, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  6. ↑ John Hall: Fleeing for Their Lives: 28,000 Sunnis escape Tikrit amid fierce fighting between ISIS and the Shia militias - who they fear even more. In: Daily Mail . March 5, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Missy Ryan: US sees bigger test for Iraq after Tikrit battle. In: The Washington Post . March 7, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Another defeat for IS in Iraq. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . March 6, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Iraqi army starts storming Tikrit: Jihadists react with attacks. In: Focus . March 10, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Isil jihadists blow up key Tikrit bridge as Iraq army seals off city. In: The Telegraph . March 10, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  11. ^ Image of the blown up Tigris Bridge. In: d.ibtimes.co.uk. Retrieved March 14, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Saddam Hussein's mausoleum destroyed in the Battle of Tikrit - Shiite fighters want to recapture Tikrit from the IS militia by Tuesday. After the fighting in the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, his tomb lies in ruins . Temporary agency reports online from March 16, 2015
  13. ↑ Fight against IS: Iraqi army reports advance into the center of Tikrit. In: Spiegel Online . March 11, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Iraqi troops enter Tikrit. In: n-tv . March 11, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  15. ^ A b Qassim Abdul-Zahra: War with Isis: Iraq government claims most of Tikrit is liberated. In: The Independent . March 12, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  16. ↑ Laura Smith-Spark, Ben Wedeman: Iraqi forces retake most of Tikrit from ISIS, militia leader says. In: CNN . March 13, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  17. ↑ Anti-IS mission: booby traps and snipers stop the advance in Tikrit. In: Spiegel Online . March 14, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  18. ↑ US air strikes clear the way for the army to Tikrit - N24, March 26, 2015
  19. ↑ Iraqi Army recaptures seat of government in Tikrit on faz.net, accessed on March 31, 2015
  20. ↑ Euronews ( online )
  21. ↑ MITCHELL PROTHERO: Operation to retake Tikrit from Islamic State stalled by heavy casualties, discord ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - McClatchy, March 20, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mcclatchydc.com
  22. ↑ Spiegel ( online )
  23. ↑ Kareem Khadder, Laura Smith-Spark: Iraqi forces take military hospital from ISIS as Tikrit offensive continues. In: CNN . March 11, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Dominic Evans, Saif Hameed: Islamic State torches oil field near Tikrit as militia advance. In: Reuters . March 5, 2015, accessed March 14, 2015 .