Second Battle of Tikrit

Second Battle of Tikrit
Part of War in Iraq and
the Salahuddin campaign

Military diagram illustrating the situation in central Salahuddin province, from early to mid-March 2015.[9][10]
Date2 March – 17 April 2015
(1 month, 2 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Tikrit, Saladin Governorate, Iraq
Result

Anti-ISIL victory

  • Allied forces encircled Tikrit by 9 March and push into the city 11 March
  • Allied forces are stalled 13–30 March
  • Partial withdraw of some Iran-backed Shi'ite militias on 27 March as U.S. & UK start assisting with anti-ISIL airstrikes[11][12][13]
  • Allied forces capture most of Tikrit from 31 March – 2 April,[14][15] with pockets of ISIL resistance persisting[16] until 17 April[17]
  • Cleanup and defusing operations in the city continued, with officials predicting that it would take several months to remove the 5,000–10,000 IEDs left behind by ISIL[18]
Territorial
changes		 The provincial capital of Saladin Governorate, Tikrit, is recaptured from ISIL, alongside the towns of Abu Ajeel, Al-Dour, Al-Alam, Al-Awja, and others
Belligerents
Iraq
 Iran[1]
Airstrikes:
 United States[2]
(25–31 March only)[3][4][5]
United Kingdom United Kingdom (25–29 March only)[6]
France France[7][8]		 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Commanders and leaders

Iraq Lt. Gen. Abdel-Wahab al-Saadi[19]
(Saladin Operations commander)
Iran Qasem Soleimani[20]
(Head of Quds Force)
Iran Gen. Sadiq Yari † (IRGC commander)[21]
PMF commanders:
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis[22]

Hadi al-Amiri
(Head of Badr Organization)[23][24]
Qais Khazali[25]
Madi al-Kinani †[26]
Ali al-Moussawi †[27]
Iraq Maj. Gen. Fadhil Barwari
(ICTS commander)		 Abu Suleiman
(Replacement Military Chief)[28]
Abu Nabil al-Anbari †
(ISIL Governor of the Saladin Governorate)
Abu Maria †
(Top ISIL leader in Tikrit)[29]
Units involved

Iraq:
Security Forces

Popular Mobilization Forces

Sunni tribal militias[37]

  • Martyrs of Salahiddeen[38]

Iran:

United States:

United Kingdom:

France:

Military of ISIL
Strength

20,000–30,000+[37][41]
(9,000 engaged)[42][43][44]

(specialist reinforcements sent)[49]		 2,000–13,000[18][50]
Casualties and losses
230[19]–1,000+[51] killed 842–1,142 killed, 80 captured[17][18][29][52]
46 civilians killed[18][53]
28,000 civilians displaced[54]

The Second Battle of Tikrit was a battle in which Iraqi Security Forces recaptured the city of Tikrit (the provincial capital of the Saladin Governorate) from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Iraqi forces consisted of the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (the bulk of the ground forces, consisting of Shia militiamen and also some Sunni tribesmen), receiving assistance from Iran's Quds Force officers on the ground, and air support from the American, British, and French air forces.[55]

The city of Tikrit, located in the central part of the Saladin Governorate in north of Baghdad and Samarra and lying adjacent to the Tigris River, was lost to ISIL during the huge strides made by the group during its offensive in June 2014. After its capture, ISIL retaliated with the massacre at Camp Speicher, a nearby training facility for the Iraqi Air Force. After months of preparation and intelligence-gathering, Iraqi forces engaged in offensive operations to fully encircle[56][57] and subsequently retake the city, starting on 2 March 2015.[58][59][60] The offensive was the largest anti-ISIL operation to date, involving some 20,000–30,000 Iraqi forces (outnumbering ISIL fighters more than two-to-one), with an estimated 13,000 ISIL fighters present.[37][61] It was reported that 90% of the residents of the city left out of fear both of ISIL and retaliatory attacks by Shia militias once the city is captured. As such, most of the residents fled to nearby cities, such as Baghdad and Samarra, or even further to Iraqi Kurdistan or Lebanon.[62]

On 4 April, after several days of heavy fighting and acts of vengeance committed by some Shia militias, the situation in the city was reported to have been stabilized,[63] and the last pockets of ISIL resistance were eliminated,[64] with an Iraqi Police Major reporting that "The situation now is calm."[65] However, on 5 April, continued resistance by 500 ISIL fighters in the city was reported in several pockets,[16] which persisted for another week as government forces continued combing Tikrit for hiding ISIL fighters, especially in the northern Qadisiya District. On 12 April 2015, Iraqi forces declared that Tikrit was finally free of all ISIL forces, stating that it was safe for residents to return.[66] However, pockets of resistance persisted until 17 April,[67] when the last 140 ISIL sleeper agents in the city were killed.[17][52] Cleanup and defusing operations in the city continued, but Iraqi officials predicted that it would take at least several months to remove the estimated 5,000–10,000 IEDs left behind by ISIL in Tikrit.[18]

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  6. ^ a b "Update: air strikes in Iraq". 7 April 2015.
  7. ^ "France launches first bombing strike against ISIS in Tikrit". The Daily Star Newspaper – Lebanon. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
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  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference ISIL holds on was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference hundreds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ a b c Abdelhak Mamoun (17 April 2015). "130 ISIS elements killed, sleeper cells found in Tikrit". Iraqi News. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  18. ^ a b c d e "Lessons From the Second Battle of Tikrit: March 2-April 4, 2015". The Huffington Post. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
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  22. ^ Muhandis is on the United States' list of designated terrorists: Lawrence, John (26 May 2015). "Iraq Situation Report: May 23–25, 2015". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 27 May 2015. See paragraph 5 of the report.
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  40. ^ "U.S. strikes bolster Iraqi offensive in Tikrit". USA Today. 26 March 2015.
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  63. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tikrit freed but in ruins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  64. ^ Cite error: The named reference ISIL expelled from Tikrit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  65. ^ Cite error: The named reference Shiite militias leave Tikrit after looting was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  66. ^ Cite error: The named reference tears for Tikrit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  67. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tikrit finally retaken was invoked but never defined (see the help page).