Kirkuk: The US-led coalition turned its focus to Saddam Hussein's hometown on April
12, where fighters are believed to be regrouping for a last stand. But after the
peaceful handover of Northern Iraq's two largest cities and intensive bombing of
Tikrit, the city may fall without much of a fight.
The dusty desert town of Tikrit has been so battered by US air strikes, Central
Command officials said on April 11 that it seems unlikely the fighters left there
will be able to muster an effective force. Many Iraqi troops may have already fled.
Planners are not ruling out a battle. One of Saddam's long time confidants Izzat
Ibrahim al-Douri, is believed to have moved missiles into the Tikrit area to bolster
its defences.
US officials have seen remnants of Republican Guard and other Iraqi Army units join
up with other stragglers in and around Tikrit, about 90 miles North West of Baghdad.
Vehicles and other military equipment remain.
"You have elements, remnants of that that are coalescing and forming composite
units," said Navy lieutenant Mark Kitchens, a Central Command spokesman.
However, after weeks of air strikes and the collapse of the regime in Baghdad and
other parts of the country, the units reforming in Tikrit are not believed to be an
effective fighting force, Kitchens said.
Tikrit has long been a power centre for Iraq's Sunni Muslim tribes, who may plan to
hold out for as long as possible out of fear of losing power to the nation's Shiite
majority. The Iraqi President drew many members of his inner circle from Tikrit, and
built a number of fortified palaces and military installations there many of which
have been targeted in air strikes.
A few thousand Special Republican Guard troops are believed to remain in Northern
Iraq, including near Tikrit and Bayji, a town about 25 miles to the North.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on April 11 that
ground forces and special forces are "degrading regime forces in and near Tikrit".
He told reporters at the Pentagon that there are "still enemy targets North of
Baghdad, in Tikrit and some of the other major cities up there that we're going to
have to deal with."
US troops in Western Iraq seized control of crossings on two highways leading into
Syria after the Iraqi colonel in charge of the checkpoints surrendered.
They found tough resistance near Qaim, the main town on the Syrian border, though
the fight was expected to end soon. "There have been intelligence reports that the
leaders…want to surrender," Myers said.
The unexpected stiff defence there raised speculation that the town may be site for
weapons of mass destruction, Central Command said. Most Iraqi surface-to-surface
missiles fired in the 1991 Gulf War were launched from the area.
In Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, Iraqi forces seemed to vanish as soldiers
dropped their arms and uniforms rather than fight US-led forces. Chaos ruled the
streets on April 11, with banks ransacked and ambulances hijacked at gunpoint. The
turmoil just a day after a similar free-for-all in the Northern city of Kirkuk was a
potent reminder of the huge challenges ahead in post-war Iraq.
Lieutenant colonel Robert Waltemeyer, commander of a US special operations unit that
helped secure Mosul, met with local tribal and clan leaders on April 11 and
announced a 10.00 pm to 6.00 am curfew. He said US forces would not tolerate looting
or reprisals.
Saddam's strongholds in the North tumbled like dominoes; on April 10, Kirkuk and its
vast oil fields fell with barely a fight. The Kurdish presence in Mosul and Kirkuk
prompted Turkish leaders to review plans for beefing up Turkey's military presence
in Northern Iraq.
Washington has promised to quickly take control of the Kirkuk area from Kurdish
fighters. The Turkish government fears stronger and richer Iraqi Kurds could one day
seek independence and encourage separatist Kurds in Turkey.
Kurds consider Kirkuk a pillar of their ethnic homeland. They also feel strong bonds
with parts of Mosul, where about a quarter of the population is Kurdish.
The main feature of Mosul is its role as a bastion of Arab culture in Northern Iraq.
About two-thirds of the Mosul area is Arab. Distrust of the US allied Kurdish
militiamen is evident and could become a point of friction.
