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Second Battle of Tikrit

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Liberation of Tikrit
Part of Iraqi insurgency (2011–present),
the Iranian intervention in Iraq,
and the Salahuddin campaign (2014–15)

Military diagram illustrating the situation in central Salahuddin province, from early to mid-March 2015
Date2 March 2015 – present
LocationTikrit, Saladin Governorate, Iraq
Result

Ongoing

  • Allied forces encircle Tikrit by capturing all of the surrounding towns and villages
  • Allied forces push into Tikrit, but are stalled before reaching the city center
  • Shia militias and Iranian military advisors, with the exception of the Badr Organization, withdraw from the battle in late March
Belligerents
Iraq
 Iran
Airstrikes:
 United States
(After March 25)		 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Commanders and leaders
Iraq Lt. Gen.
Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi
Iran Qasem Soleimani
(Head of Quds Force)
File:Badr Organisation Military flag.svg Hadi al-Amiri
(Head of Popular Mobilization Forces)
File:Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq flag.svg Qais Khazali
File:Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq flag.svg Madi al-Kinani †
File:Kata'ib Hezbollah flag.svg Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
Ali al-Moussawi †		 Abu Ayman al-Iraqi
(Head of Military Shura)
Abu Nabil
(ISIL governor of the Saladin Governorate)
Units involved

Iraq:

Iran:

United States:

Military of ISIL
Strength

20,000–30,000
(9,000 engaged)

  • 20,000 Shi'ite paramilitaries
  • 3,200–4,000 Iraqi security forces
  • 1,000–5,000 Sunni tribesmen
  • 40 Quds force officers
(specialist reinforcements sent)		 13,000+ (according to military source)
(additional reinforcements sent)
Casualties and losses
230–1,000 killed 450–750 killed, 50 captured
(as of 8 March)
Iraqi insurgency
(2011–2013)
Timeline
‡ indicates incidents resulting in over 100 deaths
Salahuddin Province campaign

The Second Battle of Tikrit is an ongoing battle to recapture the city of Tikrit, the provincial capital of the Saladin Governorate of Iraq, located in the central part of the province. The battle is currently waged between Iraqi forces (including Government forces with American air support, 700 to 1,000 fighters from allied Sunni tribes), Shia militias supported by Iran and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The city of Tikrit, which lies adjacent to the Tigris River and north of Baghdad and Samarra, was lost to ISIL during the huge strides made by the group during its offensive in June 2014. After months of preparation and intelligence gathering, Iraqi forces engaged in offensive operations to fully encircle and subsequently retake the city, starting on 2 March 2015. The offensive is the largest anti-ISIL operation to date, involving some 20,000–30,000 Iraqi forces (outnumbering ISIL fighters more than 2-to-1), with an estimated 13,000 ISIL fighters present. It is reported that 90% of the residents of the city have left out of fear both of ISIL and retaliatory attacks by Shia militias once the city is liberated. As such, most of the residents fled to nearby cities, such as Baghdad and Samarra, or even further to Iraqi Kurdistan or Lebanon.

Background

Tikrit, the hometown of former Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, fell to ISIL during the offensive in June 2014. A first attempt to recapture the city in late June 2014 was repelled by ISIL after a few days, as well as another Iraqi attempt to recapture the city in July 2014. Subsequent efforts in December 2014 also failed to make headway against ISIL, which consolidated control over Tikrit and its' environs.

The operation in Tikrit counted as the first major attempt by both Iraqi military and the Iran-backed Shiite to recapture ground seized by Islamic state group last summer. In this occasion, according to Pentagon's top officer there is no doubt that the success in recapturing the seized ground tied with Iran's involvement. In the morning of 19 August 2014, Iraqi government troops and allied militiamen launched a major operation, to retake the city of Tikrit from the militants. The military push started early in the morning from the south and southwest of the city. However, by the afternoon, the offensive had been repelled by the insurgents. Additionally, the military lost its positions in the southern area of the city it had captured a few weeks earlier.

In early December 2014, Iraqi forces besieged the city in another attempt to recapture it, but the attack was repelled by ISIL forces after a couple weeks of clashes. The U.S.-led coalition is not a participant in the battle. However, while the U.S.-led coalition has not been directly involved in the offensive, Gen. Martin Dempsey has mentioned that the continuous airstrikes along the length and breadth of ISIL territories in Syria and Iraq have depleted the groups' capacity significantly and that the current offensive against Tikrit would not be militarily feasible, if it were not for the airstrike campaign in the preceding months throughout the country. The chairmen of the joint chiefs also maintained that Iran's overt role could be positive and could only become problematic if it descended into sectarianism.

The Shi'ite paramilitary groups constitute by far the largest component of the allied forces at 20,000 fighters, with 3,000 being the total count of the Iraqi security forces and roughly a thousand or so Sunni tribesman making up the rest of the combined army.

Preparations

In early February 2015, Iraqi forces and their allies started preparations for an attack on Tikrit, with troops arriving in the nearby city of Samarra. The allied forces are composed of a heterogeneous make-up, including Iraqi security forces, a multitude of Shi'ite militias, and even a number of Sunni tribes, whom have joined the allies against ISIL in the Second Battle of Tikrit. It is also noteworthy that there are numerous officers from the Iranian revolutionary guard's extraterritorial operations division, the Quds force. These include the commander of the Quds force, General Qasem Soleimani himself.

The Iraqi army and security forces along with Shia militia groups who call themselves Popular Mobilisation units were to push into Tikrit from several directions. Some Iranian commanders took part in leading the operation, with general Qasem Soleimani directing operations on the eastern flank from a village about 35 miles from Tikrit called Albu Rayash. The offensive is the biggest military operation in the Salahuddin region since the previous summer, when ISIL fighters killed hundreds of Iraq army soldiers who had abandoned their military base at Camp Speicher outside Tikrit. Soleimani has also been spotted at camp Speicher where he oversaw elements of Kata’ib Imam Ali and the Badr brigades.

An adviser to the Iraqi government, has been quoted as saying that the attackers have been divided into an initial assault force of 9,000, with another group made up of local Sunni tribesmen who will "pacify" the city, and another group which will work on intelligence gathering, reconstruction work, and dealing with the expected refugee flow caused by the fighting.

According to reports from locals, most of the civilian residents have left Tikrit itself towards Kurdistan and Baghdad, leaving mostly ISIL fighters inside the city. The UN estimated that about 28,000 civilians had reached Samarra following the outbreak of the offensive against ISIL.

The offensive

Encirclement

Tikrit Air Academy, (formerly COB Speicher), which was the site of the infamous Camp Speicher massacre by ISIL, was recaptured and used as an offensive launching platform for the second battle of Tikrit where Gen. Qasem Soleimani coordinated the Badr brigade & Kata’ib Imam Ali efforts.

On 2 March 2015, the Iraqi government launched a massive military operation to recapture Tikrit, with 20,000–30,000 allied fighters, backed by aircraft, besieging the city on three fronts.

On 3 March, the Iraqi security forces (ISF) – in cooperation with local tribes and militias – captured the strategic oil fields of Alas and ‘Ajeel in eastern Tikrit after the ISIL militants were relentlessly bombarded by a barrage of artillery shells and gunfire from the east. Due to their withdrawal from the Alas and ‘Ajeel Oil Fields, ISIL was forced to withdraw towards one of their last strongholds at the town of Al-‘Alam, where ISIL is expected to prepare its last stand against the Iraqi Army and its allies in the northern sector of the conflict. Al-'Alam is the last land bridge left for ISIL's communications with the rest of its territories in the province, and if it is cut, it entails their encirclement.

Continuing their successful offensive, the ISF took complete control of the highway between Tuz Khumato and Tikrit, raising the Iraqi flag at the Police Headquarters in the town of Ksayba, following their fierce clashes with ISIL combatants. East of Tikrit, the ISF and their allies captured the Hamrin Mountains (Jabal Hamrin), killing a number of militants in the process. According to Iraqi media source Haidar Sumeri, four suicide bombers were killed during the battle, including a female identified among the dead militants.

The high number of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) ISIL planted along the possible routes of advance towards Tikrit necessitated that the allied commanders operate with diligence and caution. Another factor contributing to the slowed advance of the allied forces were the large number of ISIS snipers present.

On 5 March, Islamic State militants set fire to oil wells in the Ajil field, in an attempt to hinder airstrikes against their positions. According to military sources, the allied forces have retaken the village of al-Maibdi, on the road between Tikrit and Kirkuk, as well as the nearby Ajil and Alas oilfields. On 7 March the strategic town of al-Dour, located south of Tikrit, was extracted from ISIS control and secured allowing the allies to progress further northward in support of other contingents on the east bank of the Tiris river, towards Tikrit itself.

On 9 March, the allied forces rapidly advanced upon and captured the town of Al-Alam, which lies to the northeast of Tikrit and was the last line of communication ISIS militants had left with their territories to the north. The successful assault on al-Alam, which was commanded by Hadi al-Ameri under the advice of Qasem Soleimani, effectively completed the encirclement of ISIL in and around Tikrit. Despite ISIS' efforts to forestall the rapid advance of the allies on the east of the Tigris river by blowing up the bridge leading to the city over the Tigris, the allies managed to mount an aggressive push across the river and establish a bridgehead, though other sources report that the destruction of the bridge momentarily held up the advance in this sector with a source saying that “ISIS jihadists blew up a vital bridge over the Tigris River, which may delay the progress operations in the eastern parts of Tikrit”. ISIS has been suffering heavy casualties, with reports of their dead littering the streets and with only 2,000 militants left to make a last stand in the city of Tikrit itself.

Also, at this time, ISIS hung dead bodies at the entrance to the northern town of Hawija, which were that of militants who deserted from Tikrit, according to Al Rai's chief correspondent Elijah. J Magnier.

Push into the city

The ground assault on the city itself started on 11 March, and by the next day, approximately three quarters of Tikrit was in allied hands, according to government officials, whilst the rest remained under ISIS control with only a few hundred remaining ISIS militants holding out in a bitter defense in the heart of Tikrit. Under these desperate circumstances ISIS has reportedly resorted to the use of chlorine gas against the allied soldiers.

On 13 March, it was revealed that ISIS was still in control of around half of the city while the ground offensive had stalled. Meanwhile, it was reported that Shi'ite militia fighters and official Iraqi troops were conducting brutal torture and revenge killings of captured ISIS prisoners. Allegedly captured militants were beaten, shot, beheaded, dismembered and thrown from buildings by Iraqi forces with the remains mutilated and photos posted online. Among the pictures posted on Pro-Shi'ite and Iraqi forums and on Instagram were images of beheaded ISIS fighters while other photos showed militants shot and dragged behind trucks and thrown from high buildings. According to reports, the killings were revenge for similar ISIS atrocities, especially the Camp Speicher massacre of June 2014. In response to the allegations the Iraqi army promised an investigation.

By 14 March, the number of ISIL militants holed up in the center of Tikrit were apparently whittled down to 60 or 70 remaining fighters, (though many estimates would place the numbers of ISIL fighters remaining in the city up to 1,000 even by late March), with Iraqi commanders claiming to be able to purge the city entirely from the presence of the enemy within a matter of days in a slow and methodical approach to minimise casualties to the plethora of IEDs & booby-traps placed by ISIL in the urban area. A temporary halt to the advance was made in order to bring up specialists as well as elite troops with more urban warfare experience for the final push into the city center held by the remaining ISIL militants.

File:Qasem Soleimani.png
The leader of the Iranian Quds force, Gen. Qasem Soleimani reportedly took up a prominent role in both the planning & execution of the offensive to liberate Tikrit from ISIL.

There was a reported surge in terms of material reinforcements for the allied forces during the latter stages of the operation with a myriad of Iranian-made weaponry making it to the front-line. These were said to include tanks, rocket systems, combat vehicles and even UAVs as U.S. officials told the New York Times that Iran sent drones toward Tikrit, and Iran’s state-owned Fars news agency claimed the unmanned vehicles were airborne over the city.

In the period between 10 and 15 March, more than 200 mortar rounds had been launched into the Qadisiya district by the allied forces.

On 16 March, various news outlets reported on the destruction of Saddam Hussein's tomb in his ancestral village of al-Awja near Tikrit. Allied soldiers stated that ISIL had planted IEDs throughout the mausoleum and booby-trapped the entire complex in an attempt to ambush the attackers. The building was completely leveled and only the pillars remained. After Iraqi forces took the control of al-Awja village, Shia militiamen of the Popular Mobilization Committee put Shia militia's insignia around the village, including that of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani—their commander, and also a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war waged by Saddam Hussein.

Offensive stalled

Casualties mounted during urban warfare in the tight city streets of central Tikrit, where ISIL planted such a great magnitude of bombs and prepared a very strong defense at the heart of the city. Due to the unexpected resistance, there were reports of mounting casualties sustained by the allied side, who called up their specialist forces to engage in the IED-infested urban warfare in the city center. One of the commanders of the Asa'ib Ahle-Haq militia stated that, "The battle to retake Tikrit will be difficult because of the preparations (ISIL) made. They planted bombs on all the streets, buildings, bridges, everything. For this reason, our forces were stopped by these defensive preparations. We need forces trained in urban warfare to break in...but any besieged person fights fiercely." In downtown Tikrit alone, there was a reported total of some 6,500 IEDs.

On 17 March, the allied reinforcements started to arrive at Tikrit, and there were also signs that civilians were returning to the liberated outskirts around Tikrit, such as al-Alam. On 19 March, a US official said that due to the fierce resistance from surviving ISIL militants in the city center, the recapture of Tikrit was "at least two weeks away." On 23 March, Iraqi Security Forces discovered an underground tunnel connecting Al-Alam to the central part of the city of Tikrit, which was used by ISIL.

Coalition airstrikes start, militias pull back

On 25 March, the allied forces were supposed to resume their offensive, as the American-led coalition launched its first airstrikes on ISIL targets in Tikrit. That night, US aircraft carried out 17 airstrikes in the center of Tikrit, which struck an ISIL building, two bridges, three checkpoints, two staging areas, two berms, a roadblock, and a command and control facility. However, the ground assault was pushed back by two days due to disagreements between the various components of pro-government forces.

The allied ground troops had mixed reactions towards the participation of the United States in the closing phase of the battle. A spokesman for Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq said, “We announced that we will suspend our operations as we won’t accept the Iraqi government giving the victory to the Americans on a golden plate. There is no need for the American air strikes now as we have already liberated 90% of Tikrit. We won’t let the Americans take the glory for the work they are doing for liberating 10%.” However, the most senior commander among the paramilitary groups, Hadi al-Ameri, said that, “From what I understand, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi made the request. However, we respect his decision.”

The number of remaining ISIL fighters, who continued to control 40 percent of the city, was estimated at 500–750 heavily armed combatants.

On 27 March, the Shi'ite militias, with the exception of the Badr Organization, pulled out of the battle for Tikrit.

On 28 March, the US-led coalition conducted eight airstrikes in and near Tikrit, hitting two large ISIL units, one tactical unit, a vehicle, a vehicle-borne explosive device and 12 fighting positions. Overall, the previous three days of coalition airstrikes had been described as “carpet bombing”. Ground fighting itself was inconclusive, with back-and-forth fighting occurring where the same territory was changing hands every half an hour. The regular government troops were in no rush to capture the center of Tikrit, especially since they felt disappointed and in need of changing their plans after the paramilitary forces withdrew from the battle.

On 29 March, an attempt by the Iraqi Army to advance from the southern Shisheen district was repelled when ISIL fighters destroyed a bulldozer being used by the military to clear a path around booby-trapped roads. Between 26 and 29 March, 17 soldiers were killed and 100 were wounded in the street fighting.

Iran's role

Some U.S. commentators and media outlets have expressed misgivings with regard to the clear and overt role played by Iran and the myriad of Shi'ite militias under its' influence and how this could conceivably give rise to further sectarian tensions in the Sunni population of the country. This is while the presence of Iranian military advisers is said to be highly effective on the battlefield, according to CNN. As several analysts say, Qasem Soleimani has been organizing and directing the Shia militia in a more deliberate manner leading to a better planned assault than previous operations.

It later transpired that Qasem Soleimani was present and participating in commanding the drive on al-Alam where Hadi al-Ameri (the commander of the popular mobilisation committee) said "He was giving very good advice. The battle ended now, and he returned to his operations headquarters". This effectively left the militants in Tikrit encircled and trapped.

Hadi al-Amiri, the commander of the Badr Organization (the largest force involved in the battle), criticized those who are "kissing the hands of the Americans", saying that US has failed to live up to its promises to help Iraq fight ISIL, unlike the "unconditional" assistance being given by Iran.

International response

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2015)

U.S. and Iranian officials have repeatedly insisted that they do not coordinate on actions in Iraq. But both sides have taken steps not to interfere with one another’s operations. The U.S. ended its involvement in the Second Battle of Tikrit beginning in early March 2015, and is no longer providing airstrikes as in other cases, and is reported to have had minimal or rather no involvement with the offensive at all. Despite this, American Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has stated his belief that the Tikrit offensive would have been impossible without US air strikes against ISIS in other areas of Iraq. There are growing concerns on the U.S.' part that the success of the offensive will only draw Iraq further away and deeper into Iran's sphere of influence. In addition to this, there also seems to be no need or desire for U.S. and coalition support, especially by the largest component of the allied forces, that is the Shi'ite paramilitary groups which are very close to Iran.

Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia expressed alarm on Thursday, 5 March. "The situation in Tikrit is a prime example of what we are worried about. Iran is taking over the country," Prince Saud al-Faisal, foreign minister of the Sunni Muslim kingdom, said after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Already there is speculation on the future course of the War on ISIL after the retaking of Tikrit, with analysts hinting at Mosul as the next great target of the allies' thrust northwards along the Tigris River.

Sectarian & humanitarian concerns

Iraqi Police (seen here in a training), have been allegedly involved in a number of serious human rights abuses during the Second Battle of Tikrit.

There have been reports of human rights abuses by both sides in the conflict. Videos have emerged allegedly showing Iraqi special forces (U.S. trained) carrying out various atrocities and war crimes against civilians and captured ISIL militants. After the American news network, ABC, discovered and compiled the list of visual and documentary evidence and submitted these to the Iraqi government, the Iraqi officials announced that they had commenced an investigation whilst officials from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International who reviewed the library of horrors assembled in the ABC News investigation said that it is rare to see so much visual evidence of human rights abuses.

The Iraqi armed forces are not the only component of the allied army to be suspected of abuses. The Shi'ite paramilitary groups (trained and supported by Iran) have also been accused of playing a part in the human rights violations uncovered recently.

This is the case, despite the fact that a significant faction within the allied forces are Sunni tribesman who fought alongside the ISF & paramilitaries against ISIL. A prominent Iraqi Sunni preacher, Abdul Jabbar, has been quoted as saying "We ask that actions follow words to punish those who are attacking houses in Tikrit... we are sorry about those acting in revenge that might ignite tribal anger and add to our sectarian problems."

Political ramifications

There have been concerns over the Sunnis becoming increasingly disenfranchised and alienated from the rest of Iraq if the aftermath of the battle takes on a sectarian tone with the local population being mistreated and thereby increasing the legitimacy of groups such as ISIL. The most crucial stage of the battle has been seen as the aftermath and non-military actions taken by the victors, with General Matin Dempsey stating "...if what follows the Tikrit operation is not that, if there's no reconstruction that follows it, if there's no inclusivity that follows it, if there's the movement of populations out of their homeland that follows it, then I think we've got a challenge in the campaign."

It remains unclear whether Iran can fully reign in the more zealous elements within their conglomeration of Shi'ite paramilitaries, but it is evident that the Iranians have attempted a non-sectarian strategy both politically, by allowing the fall of Nouri Al-Maliki as well as the appointment of a Sunni to the office of defense minister, and militarily by providing arms to willing Sunni tribes. The Iranian foreign minister described sectarianism as the greatest threat to world security. Despite these claims however, the reports of abuse against Sunni citizens of Iraq at the hands of Iran's allies have not ceased completely. The French MP, Jacques Myard stated that the Iranians have been warning the Iraqis with regard to the possibilities of sectarian actions and the negative consequences which follow.

There have also been reports of the militias engaging in humanitarian relief by handing out food and supplies to the local populace, who expressed gratitude and expressed their contentedness at having been liberated from ISIL rule.

A senior adviser to the Iraqi government, Zaid al-Ali, made mention of Shi'ite religious scholars (marja'een) from the city of Najaf travelling to the battlefield to advocate against acts of revenge and abuse.

"Iranians will try to calm the fears of the Sunnis instead of persecuting them because the Iranian officials know that it is in their best interest to keep the Iraq united," said Hadi Jalo, a Baghdad-based political analyst. "For the Iranians, it is easier to dominate one country instead of three separate states." There have also been calls from Saudi Arabia to limit the growing influence of Iran in the country, claiming that Iran is expanding its "occupation of Iraq".

Asymmetric blow-back

The continuing success of the allied forces (composed of mostly Shi'ite paramilitary groups, though they also contain a significant Sunni contingent), particularly in Sunni areas such as Tikrit, where ISIS has been losing a series of conventional battles, has prompted them to utilise more guerilla-like stratagems such as sending out coordinated teams of suicide-bombers to Baghdad, the capital and political nerve centre of the Iraqi government, in order to bring some pressure to bear on the allies. The strategic logic of these operations was explicated by an Iraq expert & security analyst Sajad Jiyad; “It’s keeping the ISF on their toes. It’s to let them know that they can strike anywhere, to force them to spread their forces thin. By letting off such a large series of explosions, it’s sending a message that they are going to have to put their forces everywhere. It shows that ISIS can carry out these attacks at will and the ISF cannot relax its guard.”

Casualties and losses

The main four washing stations for bodies in Najaf's Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery reported around 40–60 bodies had been arriving daily from Tikrit, since the battle started, as of 16 March. On 20 March, reports circulated that 1,000 government fighters (5% of the attacking force) had been killed in the early days of the battle. In contrast, cemetery workers in Najaf reported the arrival of eight militia bodies per day from the entire country, but most from Tikrit. Lt. Gen. Abdul al-Wahab al-Saadi, the commander of the Tikrit offensive, stated 450–750 ISIL militants had been killed by 30 March.

Sadiq Yari, one of the commander of the Qods Force of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution was killed during battle, along with Seyed Ali Mousavi, deputy commander of the Kata'ib Imam Ali Brigades.

See also

References

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