Your trusted source

Iraqi forces need support from coalition airstrikes in Tikrit, where die-hard jihadis are defending their last redoubt with trenches, sandbags and roadside bombs, a top officer said Sunday, as the Kurds accused ISIS of using chemical weapons, The Daily Star reported citing news agencies.

Two weeks into Baghdad’s biggest operation yet against ISIS, Iraqi forces have a complete stranglehold on the city but have yet to launch a final assault.

Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi said he had asked the Defense Ministry to request coalition involvement, but “no air support” from foreign allies had yet been provided in Tikrit.

That assertion is supported by daily statements from the coalition that have not mentioned strikes in the area.

The military campaign to retake the city has been stalled since Friday, when security officials said Iraqi forces and their militia allies would wait for reinforcements before moving forward.

“There were no new pushes today from either side, only scattered skirmishes in the northern and southern parts of the city,” Colonel Mohammed Abid al-Jubouri told Reuters by phone after visiting the southern edge of Tikrit Sunday.

Asked if U.S.-led coalition airstrikes would help, Saadi said: “Of course ... the Americans have advanced equipment, they have AWACS [surveillance] aircraft.”

“They are able to locate the targets exactly” and carry out accurate strikes, he told AFP in an interview at Tikrit University on the northern edge of the city.

Saadi said that support from the Iraqi air force had been “limited.”