From Eastern Flank, Iran-Backed Force Advances On Tikrit
Source: REUTERS
By Thaier al-Sudani
UDHAIM DAM, Iraq Wed Mar 4, 2015 12:37pm EST
(Reuters) - Wearing military fatigues and a white turban, the Shi'ite cleric gave an eve-of-battle address to Iran-backed fighters preparing to attack Islamic State militants in Tikrit, praising them for defending their faith and urging them to fight honorably.
Seated in front of him in rows, crossed-legged in the grass, were dozens of armed men from Iraq's largest Shi'ite militia, the Badr Organisation, the main element of a force now advancing on Tikrit's eastern flank against the Sunni Muslim Islamic State militants who now dominate most of northern Iraq.
This week's multi-pronged attack is the biggest coordinated assault on the city, best known as the home town of executed Sunni president Saddam Hussein, since the radical Islamic State fighters seized it in June.
It is also the clearest example of how Tehran, rather than Washington, is now playing a more important role on the battlefield in a war that sees both Iran and the United States supporting the same side against a common foe.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/04/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-front-insight-idUSKBN0M01MV20150304
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