BAGHDAD — Iraq’s request to the US-led coalition for air strikes in the campaign to retake Tikrit from the self-proclaimed Islamic State group is “imminent,” a senior diplomat from a Western nation that is part of the coalition told Reuters on Tuesday.



There was no immediate confirmation from the Iraq government about the request, which the diplomat said would be positively received.  “Once that’s happened (that) we have gotten the request, we will do whatever we are asked to do,” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



The coalition has been absent so far from the Tikrit campaign launched three weeks ago, the largest to be undertaken by the Iraqi force. A military official within the coalition told Reuters on Tuesday that the coalition began providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for the Tikrit operation on March 21 after a request from the Iraq government. “The US is now providing that support,” he said.



The diplomat added any strikes in Tikrit would be based on the model in the north where the coalition has carried out air strikes in tandem with the Kurdish pershmerga forces.



“I guess (the strikes) will be targeted against machine gun posts” and strike fighters if they fled to open ground, the diplomat said. — Reuters