Iraq launches offensive against ISIS to recapture in Tikrit

#ISIS #Tikrit #Mosul #Iraq #HaideralAbadi #Baghdad Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, lies 150-Km north of the capital Baghdad and had been seized by IS militants in June 2014. Iraq has now launched a military offensive against ISIS with the purpose of recapturing the city. This has been reported in bbc.com dated 2 March 2015.
As per reports, Iraqi forces were carrying out the attack backed by airstrikes from Iraqi fighter jets.
It seems Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had met military leaders in Salahuddin province before start of the operation and had offered pardon to all Sunni tribal fighters who abandoned IS. He described it as a "last chance". In February itself he had indicated that Iraqi armed forces would be launching a major offensive "in a few months' time" to retake the city from IS militants.
Observers feel that retaking Tikrit would be a boost to government forces before they undertake the larger battle of retaking the city of Mosul, which is also controlled by IS. While attacks have been launched, there is no confirmation of the advances, if any, made by the forces.
Tikrit, the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein, was the second major gain for IS after they had captured the city of Mosul in June last year. Incidentally, Mosul was home to over a million people when it fell to IS.

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UN confirms that IS Militants have massacred 1500 Iraqi soldiers

UN has in a 29-page report by the UN Human Rights Office and the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) confirmed that in a single massacre on June 12, the IS militants had killed nearly 1,500 Iraqi soldiers and security officers from the former U.S. Camp Speicher military base in Salahuddin province dailymail.co.uk.
The bodies have not yet been exhumed and, hence, the precise toll is not known.
The Islamic State militants have carried out such mass executions, abducted girls as sex slaves and used child soldiers and these could amount to systematic war crimes in Iraq that demand prosecution.
In the opinion of the UN, the ISIS fighters had committed gross human rights violations of an 'increasing sectarian nature' against groups including Christians, Yazidis and Shi'ite Muslims in a widening conflict and, that has forced 1.8 million Iraqis to flee their homes.
Moreover, Iraqi government is also to be blamed because its air strikes on the Muslim militants had caused 'significant civilian deaths' by hitting villages, a school and hospitals in violation of international law.
The report also indicates that the IS attacked and killed female doctors, lawyers, among other professionals. Citing an instance of August, it said the ISIS had taken 450-500 women and girls to the Tal Afar citadel in Iraq's Nineveh region. Once there, 150 unmarried girls and women, predominantly from the Yazidi and Christian communities, were reportedly transported to Syria, either to be given as rewards to ISIS fighters or to be sold off as sex slaves.