Irqi army fights to capture Mosul in tit-for-tat battles with IS

The Iraqi army recaptured Ramadi from the Islamic State (IS) militants late last year and are preparing to launch attacks on Mosul, the country's second biggest city.

However, the IS militants have taken revenge by launching massive bombings in Baghdad and the eastern province of Diyala, in a bid to provoke sectarian friction between Shiite and Sunni communities to impede the army operations.

Late in February, the IS group claimed a twin bomb attack in the Shiite district of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad that killed some 53 people.

In Diyala, a suicide bomber struck a funeral in the town of Maqdadiyah and killed 34 people, including Ali Hamad al-Temimi, Diyala's provincial leader of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq militia. Six more prominent leaders of Shiite militias were among the killed in the funeral.

The volatile town of Maqdadiyah witnessed escalating sectarian tension especially after January 11, when explosions claimed by IS targeted a coffee shop in town which Shiite residents frequent.

January's attack led to retaliation by Shiite militia by bombing and burning several Sunni mosques and shops owned by Sunnis.

Experts said that the IS has failed during the past months to gain new ground in Iraq.

"It has lost strength after sustaining heavy casualties due to air strikes by Iraqi government and the international coalition, as well as the operations by ground troops and allied paramilitary units who have become better trained and equipped," said Hassan al-Dulaimi, a military expert.

"In the areas that the IS militants are being sieged, the group resorted to the tactic of intensifying suicide bomb attacks," al-Dulaimi said.

The IS also increased suicide attacks on civilians targets in areas where Shiite and Sunni live to provoke frictions between the two communities.

"This is exactly what happened in January in Maqdadiyah in Diyala province when uncontrolled groups of Shiite militia reacted violently and randomly against the Sunni residents," he said.

The extremist group believes that the violent reaction by the Shiites would drive the Sunnis to fight against the government, an old tactic used by al-Qaida in Iraq in the past years.

"The Shiite militia have power on the ground, they are everywhere, but there is not a single group of armed Sunnis in the government-controlled areas," al-Dulaimi said.

"The IS militants seeks to provoke harsh reactions from the Shiite militia, thereby feeding its narrative that Shiites are at war with Sunni Islam," al-Dulaimi concluded.

Ibraim al-Ameri, a political expert, said that as long as the Iraqi government is seeking to bring about comprehensive reforms in the country's political process.

It would be a good gesture that the reforms reach out to the Sunni community in order to deter the IS efforts to regain its old strongholds in the Sunni-dominated areas.

"There is a need for legislations to empower the Sunnis by devolving security and financial responsibilities," al-Ameri said, calling for national reconciliation as part of counter-terrorism efforts. Endit