[caption id="attachment_44954" align="alignright" width="180"] Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey[/caption]

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said that combination of Iraqi and Iranian military forces, dominated by Iranian-trained Shia militias, will likely succeed in their ongoing campaign to drive the Islamic State (ISIL) militants out of the Iraqi city of Tikrit.


�WASHINGTON (Sputnik)���The combination of�Iraqi and Iranian military forces, dominated by�Iranian-trained Shia militias, will likely succeed in�their ongoing campaign to�drive the Islamic State (ISIL) militants out�of the Iraqi city of�Tikrit, the Chairman of�the US Joint Chiefs of�Staff General Martin Dempsey said on�Wednesday.

�There is no doubt in�my mind that the combination of�the popular mobilization forces [Shia militias] and the Iraqi Security Forces, they�re going to�run ISIL out�of Tikrit,� Dempsey stated during�a Senate Foreign Relation Committee hearing on�a US authorization for�use of�military force against�the ISIL.

The Shia militia forces dramatically outnumber the Iraqi Security Forces engaged in�the Tikrit operation, Dempsey said. The dominant forces in�the operation are approximately 20,000 members of�Shia militias which Dempsey characterized as �Iranian-trained and somewhat Iranian-equipped.�

Approximately 1,000 fighters from�Sunni tribes are involved in�the liberation of�Tikrit as�well as�one brigade of�Iraqi Security Forces numbering about�3,000 troops, and a few hundred members of�the Iraqi counter-terror service, General Dempsey explained.

Dempsey raised concerns that a strong Shia force could result in�sectarian �atrocities and retributions� in�Tikrit, after�the joint forces take the city, or whether the Sunnis driven out�of the area by�ISIL will be allowed to�return to�their neighborhoods.

Iran and Iraq have been cooperating in�military operations in�Tikrit over�the past�week, according to�Iraqi Interior Ministry statements. The joint forces represent two distinct sects of�Islam which have regularly vied for�power and influence in�the Middle East.


By Sputnik News