(Bloomberg) -- Iraq is deploying 27,000 troops to retake the city of Tikrit from Islamic State, in a mission that will test the military’s ability to stage major offensives against the group before trying to capture its stronghold in Mosul.
The state-sponsored al-Iraqiyah television said that paramilitary forces, a term that usually describes Shiite militias, are backing up police and army soldiers. Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, arrived two days ago to “review and advise” Iraqi field commanders, the Fars news agency reported on Monday.
Iraqi forces have struggled to roll back Islamic State gains since June, when the group routed the military’s northern command to capture Mosul, the north’s biggest city. It seized Tikrit shortly after. In August, the U.S. launched air strikes to support the Iraqi military and Kurdish forces as they sought to regain momentum in the battle.
“We are proud to witness the cooperation between security forces, paramilitary forces and the tribes of these areas,” Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said in a televised news conference to announce the latest offensive on Tikrit. “Dae’sh is not only threatening the security of Iraq but threatening the security of the world,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for the al-Qaeda breakaway group.
Suleimani, the Iranian commander, assisted Kurdish and Shiite fighters and Iraqi forces in their fight to push back against the militant group.
Tikrit is the hometown of ousted President Saddam Hussein, who was executed in 2006, three years after the U.S.-led invasion to topple him. Daoud Salman, a resident, said Iraqi forces have started to shell the city, which is located about 150 (95 miles) north of Baghdad.

‘Different Directions’

The troops “are trying to enter the city from different directions,” he said by phone.
The attack comes after an official from U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, told reporters Feb. 19 that an offensive for Mosul could begin in April or May. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. would train 20,000 to 25,000 Iraqi troops to defeat 1,000 to 2,000 fighters from Islamic State, the militant Sunni group that declared a self-styled caliphate in Iraq and parts of Syria.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday the Mosul offensive may not begin this spring. “We will do it when the moment is right and we know we can proceed forward,” he said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Zaid Sabah in Washington at zalhamid@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net Caroline Alexander