BREAKING NEWS

US general: Iran-backed militias not involved in Tikrit clearing

WASHINGTON - Iran-backed Shi'ite militias are no longer involved in operations to clear Islamic State fighters from the Iraqi city of Tikrit, a top US general told Congress on Thursday, a day after the US-led coalition started air strikes in support of Iraqi forces on the ground.
"They are not a part of the clearing operations in Tikrit," General Lloyd Austin, head of the US military's Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East.