SALADIN, Iraq
Iraqi forces backed by local tribes and Shiite militias killed 25 militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on Tuesday in the northern province of Saladin, a Shiite militia spokesman said.
Iraqi troops were supported by al-Jabbour tribal fighters and the al-Hashid al-Sha’bi Shiite militia in the clashes, which took place near the city of Tikrit.
"Most of the killed Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the militant group also known as ISIL] militants were Arab nationals not Iraqis," Karim al- Nouri al-Hashid, the al-Sha’bi Shiite militia’s spokesman told The Anadolu Agency. "The majority of the militants retreated to central Tikrit."
Iraqi security forces backed by Shiite militias have launched a ground offensive against Daesh on Monday to recapture Tikrit city, aiming to approach Daesh stronghold of Mosul. Tikrit, a Sunni-majority city, was the homeland of the deceased Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, the chief commander of the Quds Force -- the Revolutionary Guard's special forces that operate outside Iranian territory -- arrived in Iraq on Saturday to serve as a military consultant to the Iraqi forces, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.
The U.S. however does not seem to be concerned about the Iranian involvement. The U.S. officials also said that Iraqi forces had not asked the U.S. to back them in Tikrit’s ground offensive.
Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. respected Iraq’s sovereignty and subsequently the manner in which Baghdad saw fit to defeat Daesh.
Dempsey confirmed the existence of Iranian proxies in Iraq since 2004 and described their involvement in Tikrit as "the most overt conduct of Iranian support" but added that it should not be a problem if it did not lead to "sectarianism."
Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, said Tuesday in a statement at a congressional hearing, that the U.S.-led military operations had killed 8,500 militants since August 2014.
He stressed that Daesh did not have the capacity to stretch out its forces to capture more areas of Iraq.
Clashes between Iraqi forces and Daesh have been ongoing since June 2014 when the armed group seized Mosul and other territories in Iraq.
This prompted the U.S. to form an international coalition, which has launched numerous airstrikes against Daesh targets in both Iraq and Syria since August.
