Shi'ite militia

A suicide bomber driving a car killed at least 19 people and wounded 48 others on April 30 in an attack claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on a group of Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims in a southeastern suburb of Baghdad, Iraqi police sources said.

A fledgling U.S. base in northern Iraq came under attack again on March 21 from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and even drew a threat from an Iran-backed Shi'ite militia, two days after a U.S. Marine there was killed in a rocket attack. 

Iraq has said its military officials are engaged in intelligence and security cooperation in Baghdad with Russia, Iran and Syria to counter the threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group, a pact that could raise concerns in Washington.

The United States is concerned about how heavy Iranian weaponry might be used inside Iraq, including as Iran-backed militia help the offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Tikrit from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, a U.S. official said on March 18.
   

Iraq needs more airstrikes to dislodge Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants from Tikrit, senior officials said on March 16, as the campaign to retake Saddam Hussein's home city stalled for a fourth day due to homemade bombs and booby traps.