Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — Iraq is amassing forces for a counter-offensive against Al Qaida with assistance from the United States and Iran.

Officials said the Iraq Army and security forces have mobilized tens of thousands of troops for a counter-offensive against Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The officials said the operation was meant to push ISIL back from the outskirts of Baghdad.

The officials said Iran and the United States were helping the offensive ordered by Al Maliki. They acknowledged the involvement of advisers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Obama administration has announced that 300 U.S. military advisers, including special forces, are being deployed to Iraq.

Tikrit Gov. Abdullah Al Jibouri said the offensive was planned to cover several fronts and reach cities captured by ISIL. He said more than 50,000 troops were around the northern city of Samara alone.

“Today we are coming in the direction of Tikrit, Sharqat and Nineveh,”
Al Jibouri told soldiers in Ishaqi, south of Samara, on June 20.

On June 21, the Defense Ministry reported army and air force attacks
on ISIL near Samara in the Saleh Eddin province. The ministry said 25 ISIL
vehicles were destroyed in air strikes.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has called for volunteers against
ISIL. So far, the government has reported two million volunteers, most of
them believed to be Shi’ites, from 10 provinces. On June 21, thousands of
fighters from the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army, accompanied by missiles and
rockets, marched through Baghdad.

“The volunteers popular crowd will receive bonuses under the law,
similar to employees of Defense and Interior ministries,” Al Maliki said on
June 19.

Still, the Iraqi military has demonstrated significant shortcomings in
combat. On June 20, an Iraq Army helicopter opened fire on a police patrol
in Dhuluyiyah, a town north of Baghdad. The attack helicopter was identified
as the S-6IN, produced by the U.S. company Sikorsky Aircraft.

ISIL has also been battling Iraqi forces in Al Qaim along the border
with Syria. Officials acknowledged that ISIL and its Sunni allies were
deployed in most of Al Qaim.

  Iraq mobilizing against ISIL with backing from Iran, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Nouri Al Maliki, Shi’ites, Sunnis, U.S.