It will take no more than three days for the Iraqi force, which has gotten the better of the jihadist forces in Tikrit, to completely liberate the city from the clutches of the deadly hardliner militants, a spokesman said on Saturday.
"72 hours" is all that will take for the task — which looked an impossibility until some time ago — to be successful, Karim al-Nuri the top leader of the Badr militia as well as a spokesperson for the fighters of the volunteer 'Popular Mobilisation' units in the area was cited by AFP as saying.
Popular Mobilisation is an umbrella term used to describe the huge group of Shiite militia fighting against the atrocities of the Isis group, which in turn is composed of hardliner Sunni militants. Apart from small forces of the tribal populace, other militia, police and the national army, the Popular Mobilisation units account for the most number of the fighters involved in the two-week mission to rescue Tikrit from the clutches of the terrorist.
The dreaded group who call themselves 'Islamic State' had swallowed the city along with a swathe of land in Northern Iraq and Syria as they went about in what can be referred to as an 'annexation spree' mid-last-year.
Stressing that the day Tirkrik will once again be liberated is not too far away, Nuri said that last few remaining fighters of the Isis group are "surrounded from all sides" and they appear to have no choice but to either surrender or die. Speaking to the French news agency from outskirts of Tikrit, not too far away from the village of Awja, he added that there are now only about "60 to 70" of them left.
However, there are numerous "bombs" planted in their defence on the pathway to the city. Victory, therefore, won't be formally announced until the Iraqi forces finally succeed in getting round to this final obstacle, the spokesperson concluded.
