The Military Operation To Retake Tikrit Has Resulted In 1,000 Iraqi MIlitiamen Their Lives

The State/McClatchy News: Operation to retake Tikrit stalled by heavy casualties, discord



ISTANBUL — The much ballyhooed Iraqi government operation to capture the central city of Tikrit from the Islamic State has stalled three weeks after it began, amid widespread reports that Shiite Muslim militias and the government are badly divided over tactics and roiled by claims that the militias have engaged in war crimes against the local Sunni Muslim population.


A two-day pause supposedly intended to give the Iraqi government time to bring up reinforcements has stretched into a week, as reports circulate that Iraqi government troops and the militias took heavier than anticipated casualties in their first efforts to dislodge Islamic State fighters. At least 1,000 militiamen died in the early days of fighting, according to some reports, roughly 5 percent of the 20,000 men the militias have committed to the operation.



WNU Editor: I believe these reports of high casualties are true. During the taping of this Al Jazeera report from the front lines , the Al Jazeera reporter saw 5 Iraqi special forces soldiers getting killed in a few minutes .... and that was in just one small skirmish. The battle for Tikrit has been ongoing for weeks now .... one can only imagine the casualty count .... and on both sides.



Update: If this report is true .... it appears that Iraqi Shiite militias are now getting frustrated in the battle for Tikrit .... Iraqi Sunnis accuse Shi'ite paramilitaries of burning homes outside Tikrit (Reuters)