By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi forces and militias have pushed into former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s home city of Tikrit on Wednesday, advancing from the north and south. The fight is part of their largest counter-offensive so far against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). If the Iraqi government is able to regain control of the oil rich city of Tikrit it would be the first time Iraqi forces have reclaimed a major city from ISIS forces and would likely pave the way for the liberation of Mosul, the largest city in ISIS hands.

Army and militia fighters reportedly captured part of Tikrit’s northern Qadisiya district, the provincial governor said, a security officer reported that forces have also made an advance from the south making a rapid push toward the center of the city. “The forces entered Tikrit general hospital,” an official at the main military operation command center said. “There is heavy fighting going on near the presidential palaces, next to the hospital complex.”

North of the city of Tikrit, Kurdish Peshmerga forces have intensified their offensive against ISIS forces, pushing back the militants south and west of Kirkuk while with the support of airstrikes launched by the United States and coalition forces. The Kurds also took control of a key route from Kirkuk to the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, the largest city in Northern Iraq, according to Kurdish officials. As ISIS retreated towards Hawija, residents reported ISIS militants killed some of their own members who had tried to flee the fighting.

In what may be retaliation for the efforts to liberate Tikrit ISIS forces have reportedly launched 13 suicide car attacks in the provincial capital of Ramadi, located 55 miles from Baghdad, in the ISIS stronghold, Anbar providence. The cars were used to attack security and military forces in the city. The death toll from the attacks was not immediately clear but a medical official reported at least give people were killed in the attacks.  One of the car bombs was detonated near a bridge in the west of the city which borders the Tigris River, damaging at least part of the bridge, a police source said.

While the attempted liberation of Tikrit marks a major milestone in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant which has pillaged the region, murdering and raping civilians and destroying priceless cultural sites, some have expressed concern that Iraqi forces may seek to take revenge on the Sunni residents in and around Tikrit, as was reported with earlier militia victories in Diyala province. Camp Speicher, near the city of Tikrit, was the site of the massacre more than 1,000 Shi’ite soldiers by ISIS militants. Shi’ite clerics have called on the militias to act with restraint,

For more information please see:

The Boston Globe – Iraqi Forces Seize Large Parts of Tikrit from Islamic State – 11 March 2015

CNN International – Iraqi Forces Take Military Hospital from ISIS as Tikrit Offensive Continues – 11 March

National Public Radio – Iraqi Forces Reportedly Enter Tikrit in Push against ISIS – 11 March 2015

Reuters – Iraqi Forces Push Into Tikrit, Bombers Hit Ramadi – 11 March 2015