The Iraqi military’s huge offensive to retake Tikrit, a city located in Northwest Iraq, from the Islamic State (IS) group is under fire.
“The battle to retake Tikrit will be difficult because of the preparations (IS) made,” said Jawwad al-Etlebawi, spokesman for the Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a Shiite militia that is playing a major role in the operation alongside the regular Iraqi army.
“They planted bombs on all the streets, buildings, bridges, everything. For this reason, our forces were stopped by these defensive preparations,” Etlebawi told AFP.
“We need forces trained in urban warfare to break in,” he said, adding that the IS jihadists are surrounded, “but any besieged person fights fiercely.”
The operation to recapture Tikrit, the home town of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, began on March 2.
While Iraqi forces succeeded in surrounding the city and retaking towns across the Tigris river to the east, gaining ground inside it has proved much more difficult.
The top army commander for Salaheddin province, where Tikrit is located, Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, admitted to AFP on Sunday that the forces attacking Tikrit needed air support from the US-led coalition.
Saadi said that he had asked the defence ministry to make the request to the coalition, but that no air support had been forthcoming.
IS spearheaded a sweeping offensive that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad last June. Since then Iraqi forces backed by the US-led coalition and Iran have been struggling to push the militants back.
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