US and coalition aircraft bombed Islamic State militants in Tikrit, Iraq, on Wednesday, lending air power to Iraqi forces who have struggled to recapture the town despite Iranian assistance.
With the offensive against the Islamic State in Tikrit bogged down, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made a belated request for US support after having relied solely on Iran’s military advice and aid, officials said.
The US, worried about Iran’s high-profile association with the operation, seized a chance to exert its influence and US fighter jets and bombers were ordered in.
US President Barack Obama approved the air raids on the condition that Iraqi government forces be given a larger role in the assault, instead of the Shiite militias trained and armed by Iran, a US official told reporters.
The offensive to take back Tikrit — the home town of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein — has stalled after more than three weeks, with militants defending their positions with homemade bombs.
“I can confirm that the government of Iraq has requested coalition support for operations in Tikrit,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said. “Operations are ongoing.”
“International coalition forces bombed four areas in the center of Tikrit city,” an Iraqi special forces lieutenant colonel told reporters:
According to the Iraqi officer, the bombing began after nightfall and was continuing periodically. Air raids hit an area near a palace compound area and near the Tikrit hospital, he said.
US officials said the aircraft were bombing “preplanned” targets identified in advance and that the scale of the operation was “not massive,” but comparable to other raids conducted in Iraq and Syria.
Over the weekend, US aircraft — including drones — began carrying out surveillance flights to support the Tikrit operation on the ground against the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Other countries in the US-led coalition were taking part in the air strikes, but officials did not specify which governments.
“These strikes are intended to destroy ISIL strongholds with precision, thereby saving innocent Iraqi lives while minimizing collateral damage to infrastructure,” said US Lieutenant General James Terry, who oversees the command in charge of the US war effort. “This will further enable Iraqi forces under Iraqi command to maneuver and defeat ISIL in the vicinity of Tikrit.”
Although the US and its allies have conducted air strikes elsewhere in Iraq, Baghdad had not previously asked for US help for the Tikrit offensive.
Instead, long-time US foe Iran has played a dominant role, providing artillery and deploying advisers to the Iraqi Shiite militias also taking part in the operation.
However, the assault has stalled, even though the Iraqi forces far outnumber the Islamic State militants.
US officials and military officers made no secret of their view that Iraq had made a mistake in not asking for US air power from the start.
“Now the operation to take Tikrit really begins,” one US defense official told reporters.
At a Pentagon briefing earlier on Wednesday, spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said the US-led coalition was the most “reliable” partner for Iraq.
He said the Iraqis had made confident predictions when the offensive on Tikrit was launched earlier this month, but he said “urban combat is difficult and slow” and the coalition had unmatched military power to offer.
“I think it’s important that the Iraqis understand that what would be most helpful to them is a reliable partner in this fight against ISIL,” he said. “Reliable, professional, advanced military capabilities are something that very clearly and very squarely reside with the coalition.”
The offensive to retake Tikrit, which involves thousands of Iraqi soldiers, police and forces known as Popular Mobilization units, which are dominated by Shiite militias, started on March 2.
Obama’s administration has insisted it does not coordinate military operations directly with Iran and until this week the two countries have operated in separate areas in Iraq. However, the US surveillance flights and air raids in Tikrit illustrate how Washington is moving toward greater collaboration with Tehran, albeit indirectly, despite the intense distrust between the two adversaries.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese