A two-day pause supposedly intended to give the Iraqi government time to bring up reinforcements has stretched into a week. At least 1,000 militiamen died in the early days of fighting, according to some reports, roughly 5% of the 20,000 men in the militias.
An anonymous witness in a government hospital at the nearby city of Samarra told McClatchy DC that at least 100 dead or wounded pro-government fighters had been brought in over the last four days and that “bodies are everywhere” at the facility.
Difficulties with the Tikrit operation make it unlikely that the Iraqi military will be in any position to launch an assault to recapture Mosul before the fall. Iraq’s second largest city was captured by Islamic State militants last June.
The government and the militias are split on how to proceed in Tikrit. Iraqi officials say a full-frontal assault against IS forces might succeed, but would come at a heavy cost. Iraq’s special operation forces, which would lead the charge, are opposed to it.
An Iraqi military commander told McClatchy DC that while the number of IS forces have been described only as a few hundred, they are heavily fortified with booby-traps and defended by snipers and suicide bombers scattered among civilians unable to leave the city.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi is hesitant to unleash eager Shiite Militias due to reports that they have terrorized the local Sunni population, pillaging houses and raping women. Abadi fears backlash from America, which is already sensitive over videos of a wide range of abuses, from executions to kidnappings, some involving troops US advisers had trained.
In a statement to ABC News about the abuses, angry US officials said: “As the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) and militias reclaim territory, their behavior must be above reproach or they risk being painted with the same brush as ISIL fighters.”
For now, the Iraqi military has decided to use heavy earth-moving equipment to clear booby-traps while keeping the militias from resupplying – essentially waiting them out – Iraqi sources told McClatchy DC.
A spokesman for the largest of the Shiite militias, however, disputed that that was the plan in an interview with McClatchy DC. The spokesman said the militias would resume operations “in one or two days as more men and equipment are brought to the area.”
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters earlier this week: “They have a way to go still. Urban warfare is difficult.”
