Commanders see the recapture of overwhelmingly Sunni Arab Tikrit as a stepping stone for the reconquest of second city Mosul further north, which once had a population of two million.
Analysts say the battle for Tikrit is also a key test of how well the regular army can work with the myriad of militia groups and prevent reprisals against Sunnis.
The defence minister, himself Sunni, said he was impressed with the level of cooperation and played down concerns that victory in Tikrit could further alienate the minority community.
“What caught my attention and was very positive, was that I met a number of fighters, maybe more than 250, who are all sons of Tikrit,” he said.
“It sends a very positive message to the Iraqi people and lifts the spirit of the security forces.”
– Boko Haram accepted –
IS has countered every military loss lately by ramping up its propaganda war with ever more shocking videos of child fighters executing prisoners or of the destruction of some of the world’s most precious heritage sites.
On Thursday, the group released an audio recording presented as a speech by top IS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani in which he formally welcomes Boko Haram into the IS fold.
Boko Haram had pledged allegiance to IS on Saturday but the move had yet to be formally accepted by IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for the Nigerian extremist group to become part of the “caliphate”.
“We announce to you to the good news of the expansion of the caliphate to West Africa,” Adnani said.
“Our caliphate is resisting and it is advancing in the right direction. We are fighting the Crusaders and the rafidah (Shiites) and day by day the Islamic State is becoming strong,” he said.
He insisted that the group is “sure of its victory” regardless of the challenges.
“God is on our side and give us the strength to combat this armada of Crusader countries,” he said.
The group also released a video in which eight men from the region along the Euphrates River straddling Iraq and Syria are beheaded.
The video gives their names and accuses them of spying for a Syria-based rebel group opposed to IS, of supplying intelligence to the Iraqi forces and of torturing IS member.
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