Iraq crisis: Tikrit turns into a 'town of ghosts' as Isis occupation leaves PM al-Maliki on the edge

Iraqi army troops have advanced to the entrance of Tikrit but insurgents hold the rest of the city, from which people have fled in expectation of a battle. There is no electricity or water and the streets are empty.

“It is a town of ghosts,” said Abu Nahib who had just brought his sister from Tikrit to Baiji, where fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) are in control, though not of the crucial oil refinery. “Isis still holds Tikrit but there is a huge number of soldiers just outside it and there has been random bombing.” The government says troops landed by helicopter have taken parts of Tikrit University and have positioned snipers in its high buildings.

It is important for the Iraqi government to win some sort of success at Tikrit or elsewhere, after three weeks of military reverses at the hands of Isis and Sunni militant groups. The regular army, which is 350,000 strong, has previously disintegrated or failed to fight against smaller detachments of insurgents.

The recapture of Tikrit would be useful for the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who is under sustained criticism for driving the five or six million strong Sunni community into a revolt led by Isis. He appointed the senior military officers who have failed to fight and, in some cases, have abandoned their soldiers and fled.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-crisis-tikrit-turns-into-a-town-of-ghosts-as-isis-occupation-leaves-prime-minister-nouri-almaliki-on-the-edge-9571545.html