In battle against IS, Iraqi forces retake town near Tikrit

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces on yesterday retook a town next to the militant-held city of Tikrit as they pressed their offensive against Islamic State militants, two military officials said.

The Iraqi forces entered Alam early in the morning and hours later gained full control of the town adjacent to Tikrit, the two Iraqi officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

The battle for Saddam Hussein's hometown is a key test for the Iraqi forces as they struggle to win back some of the Islamic State group's biggest strongholds in Iraq.

Ahmed al-Karim, the Salahuddin provincial council chief, told The Associated Press that progress had been slow due to roadside bombs and sniper attacks.

Tikrit, Salahuddin's provincial capital that lies about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, fell to the Islamic State group last summer, along with Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, and other areas in the country's Sunni heartland.

The offensive to wrest Tikrit from IS has received significant assistance from Iranian military advisers who are guiding Iraq's Shiite militias on the battlefield. US-led coalition forces have said they are not providing aerial support for this particular mission because the Iraqis have not requested it.

Before Alam, the offensive succeeded in clawing back a few villages and towns, most notably Dawr, south of Tikrit. Among those directing operations is Iranian Gen. Ghasem Soleimani, commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force. The overt Iranian role and the prominence of Shiite militias in the campaign have raised fears of possible sectarian cleansing should Tikrit, an overwhelmingly Sunni city, fall to the government troops.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Syria, activists said yesterday that more than 70 prisoners escaped from an Islamic State jail in a town held by the militant group. The militants then went house-to-house and set up checkpoints around the northern town of Al-Bab, searching for those who fled.

The prisoners took the opportunity to escape when clashes erupted between rival militant groups, said Bari Abdelatif, an activist from al-Bab who is now based in Turkey.

"There are checkpoints everywhere," Abdelatif said of the situation in the town. He said he was contact with residents and added that IS fighters were driving through town streets and calling on people over loudspeakers to hand over any prisoners they were hiding.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Abdelatif said those who fled included Kurdish fighters who were captured by the Islamic State group in recent months. The Observatory said the IS extremists were able to recapture some of those who fled but did not provide details or numbers.

Along with a third of Iraq, the Islamic State last year also captured a third of Syria last year. In the past months, the group has been defeated in some areas, including the Syrian border town of Kobani and several surrounding villages.

US military officials have that said a coordinated military mission to retake Mosul will likely begin in April or May and involve up to 25,000 Iraqi troops. But the Americans have cautioned that if the Iraqis are not ready, the offensive could be delayed.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said while on a visit to the region on Monday that he is "a bit concerned" about whether the international coalition fighting the Islamic State is sustainable for the longer-term challenge of confronting extremists elsewhere.

Dempsey said that in military terms the campaign against IS is "on path." But he put equal emphasis on the importance of sustaining the coalition for the longer term. Shiite dominance in Baghdad has upset predominantly Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.