Iraqi President Fouad Massoum said on Wednesday that the U.S.-led coalition would soon carry out air strikes against Islamic State in the Sunni city of Tikrit, after starting aerial reconnaissance flights this week.
A three-week offensive by Iraqi government forces and Iranian-backed Shia paramilitaries has failed to flush out Islamic State fighters from Tikrit, the birthplace of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
“Since yesterday, aerial support and reconnaissance flights started in Tikrit. They first begin with reconnaissance missions; then they compile the aerial reports; and afterwards the aerial [strike] operations start,” Mr. Massoum told Reuters in an interview at the presidential palace in Baghdad.
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Iraqi military commanders had asked for air strikes, while the Iranian-backed Shia militias had publicly rejected the U.S. role in the campaign to retake the jihadist bastion.
Faced with the deadlock, the Iraqi government had called a halt to most operations a week ago, citing concerns about civilian and military casualties.
But Mr. Massoum made clear that the Iraqi government had decided to ask for the U.S.-led alliance’s air support in the battle despite the strong aversion of Shia paramilitary leaders, who boast the strongest fighting force in the war against the militant Islamic State.
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“The Iraqi government along with residents of the area wanted an active contribution from the international coalition... The Iraqi government alone decides and no other force decides,” Mr. Massoum, a veteran Kurdish politician who became Iraq’s President last summer, said. — Reuters