Iraqi security forces and Shia fighters gather in preparation for an attack on Islamic State strongholds Iraqi forces, backed by Shia militia, Sunni tribesman and thousands of volunteers, launched a military operation to clear the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis, from Salahaddin province and the city of Tikrit, the home town of former leader Saddam Hussein. Thousands of men from army and militia units based in Baghdad and Diyala province, began moving into position in the mostly Sunni province, home to an important Shia shrine and an oil refinery already under the control of pro-government forces. Iraq has been struggling to take the offensive against the militants since Isis , together with allied Sunni groups, seized control of swaths of Iraq’s west and northwest in a lightning campaign last June. Government forces finally appear to be making progress and have seen battlefield success outside […]