|
 In Geneva, the United Nations refugee agency announced a major aid
operation to get supplies to more than half a million people
displaced by fighting in northern Iraq.
Buoyed by an operation to recapture a strategic dam from the
jihadists after two months of setbacks, Iraqi army units backed by
Shi'ite militias fought their way towards the center of Tikrit, a
city 130 km (80 miles) north of Baghdad which is a stronghold of the
Sunni Muslim minority.
"Our forces are advancing from two directions with cover from army
helicopters, mortar and artillery shelling the positions of the
Islamic State fighters in and around the city," an army major in the
operations room told Reuters.
Sunni Muslim fighters led by the Islamic State swept through much of
northern and western Iraq in June, capturing the Sunni cities of
Tikrit and Mosul as well as the Mosul dam, a fragile structure which
controls water and power supplies to millions of people down the
Tigris river valley.
However, on Monday fighters from Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region
said they had regained control of the hydro electric dam with the
help of U.S. air strikes. U.S. President Barack Obama also announced
that the dam had been retaken.
The Iraqi major said fierce fighting was underway near Tikrit's main
hospital 4 km (2.5 miles) from the city center of the city.
"Helicopters are pounding the bases of the terrorists to prevent
them from regrouping," he said.
As well as a push from the south, Iraqi forces were advancing slowly
from the west due to land mines and roadside bombs planted by the
militants, he added. A police captain confirmed the details of the
fighting.
The Islamic State has concentrated on taking territory for its
self-proclaimed caliphate both in Syria, where it is also fighting
the forces of President Bashar al-Assad, and across the border in
Iraq. Unlike al Qaeda, the movement from which it split, it has so
far steered clear of attacking Western targets in or outside the
region.
However, a video posted on the Internet warned Americans, in
English, that "we will drown all of you in blood" if U.S. air
strikes hit Islamic State fighters. The video also showed a
photograph of an American who was beheaded during the U.S.
occupation of Iraq that followed Saddam's overthrow in 2003.
MAJOR AID PUSH
The UNHCR refugee agency said a four-day airlift of tents and other
goods would begin on Wednesday to Arbil, capital of the Kurdish
autonomous region, from the Jordanian port of Aqaba. This would be
followed by road convoys from Turkey and Jordan and sea shipments
from Dubai via Iran over the next 10 days, UNHCR spokesman Adrian
Edwards said.
"This is a very, very significant aid push and certainly one of the
largest I can recall in quite a while," he told a news briefing in
Geneva. "This is a major humanitarian crisis and disaster. It
continues to affect many people."
Coinciding with the Iraqi and Kurdish advances, Damascus government
forces have stepped up air strikes on Islamic State positions in and
around the city of Raqqa – its stronghold in eastern Syria.
[to top of second column] |
Analysts believe Assad - who is firmly in control in the capital
more than three years into the civil war - is seizing the moment to
show his potential value to Western states that backed the uprising
against him but are now increasingly concerned by the Islamic State
threat.
"The Syrians are meeting the Americans, or the West, halfway in the
question of fighting terrorism, and are presenting themselves as a
partner in combating terrorism,” said Salem Zahran, a Lebanese
journalist with close ties to the Syrian government.
The Islamic State added new fighters in Syria at a record rate in
July, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which
monitors the conflict. Some 6,300 men – 80 percent of them Syrian
and the rest foreign fighters – joined last month, Rami Abdelrahman,
founder of the Observatory, told Reuters.
TRYING TO TURN THE TIDE
Iraqi government forces put up little serious resistance when
Islamic State staged their June offensive, while Kurdish fighters
also suffered setbacks until Obama ordered the U.S. air strikes
earlier this month.
Obama said he acted to protect Americans and prevent a genocide in a
conflict that has forced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to flee
their homes, including from the Yazidi and Christian religious
minorities.
Baghdad is now trying to turn the tide after the Kurds said they had
taken the dam, easing fears that the militants could cut off
electricity and water supplies, or even breach the structure,
causing huge loss of life and damage down the Tigris.
Efforts are underway in Baghdad to form a new government that will
unite the majority Shi'ites with the Sunnis and Kurds in halting the
Islamic State insurgency that threatened to tear the country apart.
Sunnis long dominated Iraq until the U.S.-led invasion forced Saddam
to flee. He was captured near Tikrit in late 2003 and executed in
2006.
(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Tom Perry
in Beirut; Writing by David Stamp; Editing by Anna Willard)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
