Iraq's request to US-led coalition for air strikes for Tikrit is "imminent": Diplomat

Baghdad: Iraq`s request to the US-led coalition for air strikes in the campaign to retake Tikrit from Islamic State insurgents is "imminent", a senior diplomat from a Western nation that is part of the coalition told Reuters on Tuesday. 

The coalition has been so far absent from the campaign, the largest to be undertaken by Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shi`ite Muslim militia groups since Islamic State overran a third of the country last year. 

If the coalition accepts the request, the move would see by far the biggest collaboration between Iraqi forces, the Iranian-backed paramilitaries, and the United States and its allies in the fight against the militants.