The Battle For The Iraqi City Of Tikrit Is Intensifying

Reuters: Insight: From eastern flank, Iran-backed force advances on Tikrit

(Reuters) - Wearing military fatigues and a white turban, the Shi'ite cleric gave an eve-of-battle address to Iran-backed fighters preparing to attack Islamic State militants in Tikrit, praising them for defending their faith and urging them to fight honorably.

Seated in front of him in rows, crossed-legged in the grass, were dozens of armed men from Iraq's largest Shi'ite militia, the Badr Organisation, the main element of a force now advancing on Tikrit's eastern flank against the Sunni Muslim Islamic State militants who now dominate most of northern Iraq.

WNU Editor: The Islamic State and its allies are fighting back .... Iraq jihadists slow Tikrit advance with bombs and snipers (AFP). More here .... Militants Stubbornly Resist Tikrit Offensive (VOA). And here .... ISIS Unleashes Guerrilla Tactics in Bitter Battle for Tikrit (Arutz Sheva). Some are now even saying that the Iraq - Iran offensive has been stopped.

More News On The Battle For The Iraqi City Of Tikrit

Iraqi forces seek to encircle IS fighters in Tikrit -- BBC
Iraqi forces push toward Tikrit as they seek to dislodge ISIS -- CNN
Iraqi Troops Battle Islamic State for Control of Tikrit -- WSJ
Iraq intensifies assault on ISIL stronghold, Tikrit -- Euronews
Iraq forces look to tighten noose around Tikrit -- AFP
Iraqi forces reportedly capture villages, oil fields around ISIS-held Tikrit -- FOX News
Iraq Presses Offensive Against IS to Reclaim Tikrit -- VOA
Iranian-backed Shiite militias lead Iraq’s fight to retake Tikrit -- Long War Journal
Islamic State: Iraq Battle Against ISIS For Tikrit Led By Iran-Backed Shiite Militia Forces -- IBTimes
Iraqi Forces Advance in the Battle for Tikrit, With a Little Help from Iran -- Vice News
Concern grows for civilians as noose tightens around Tikrit -- AFP
Fears that Tikrit Operation May See Massacres -- Arutz Sheva
Iranian-led fighting in Tikrit spurs worries of sectarian revenge in Iraq -- McClatchy News
Why 'emotional' battle for Tikrit will defeat ISIS -- Hayder al-Khoei, CNN
Tikrit: Iran key in fight to wrest city from IS -- Nafiseh Kohnavard, BBC
Taking back Tikrit and Mosul from Islamic State isn’t necessarily a good thing -- Peter Van Buren, Reuters
Iran Is Beating America to the Punch in Iraq -- Joshua Keating, Slate