Islamic State fighters are mounting stiff resistance in Tikrit, Iraq, as Iraqi troops and Shiite militias, some of them backed by the Iranian government, join in on the assault on the city. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, was in Baghdad as the Pentagon backed away from plans to take the city of Mosul, Iraq, from Islamic State militants.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.