Aid flows into Iraq Shiite town after siege broken
Source: AP-EXCITE
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's outgoing prime minister travelled to a small northern Shiite town Monday, praising its residents for fending off attacks by Sunni militants who had besieged them for more than two months until security forces backed by Iran-allied Shiite militias and U.S. airstrikes broke the siege a day earlier.
Jubilant security forces, Shiite fighters and residents of Amirli greeted Nouri al-Maliki with hugs and Shiite slogans when he arrived in the town, where some 15,000 Shiite Turkmens had been stranded.
In footage aired on state TV, al-Maliki was shown sitting at a wooden desk in front of a large poster of Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistsani, ordering promotions and awards for forces who took part in ending the siege.
"I salute you for your steadfastness and patience against those beasts and killers," he told a gathering of fighters in the large hall, as they chanted Shiite religious slogans.
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Shiite militiamen patrol in Amirli, 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014. Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen on Sunday broke a six-week siege imposed by the Islamic State extremist group on the northern Shiite Turkmen town of Amirli, following U.S. airstrikes against the Sunni militants' positions, officials said. (AP Photo)
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