Iraq's sectarian tensions show signs of easing after military retakes Tikrit

Mr. Hammad and some other Sunni tribal leaders said the retaking of Tikrit last month, the first large-scale coordination between Iran-backed Shiite militias and Sunni tribal fighters, has helped to overcome their mutual suspicion.

While Iraq’s sectarian divisions remain formidable, Mr. Hammad’s experience in Tikrit offers an instance of collaboration among many that the Iraqi government is eager to replicate as its forces push to seize back other regions dominated by the country’s Sunni minority. Whether the government succeeds in fostering such cooperation widely will go a long way in determining whether it prevails over Islamic State.

“Some people in Anbar claim the militias are like Islamic State, but I think the opposite,” said Sheikh Taher al-Dolaimi, a Sunni tribal leader in the Sunni-majority western province of Anbar. “My men keep telling me how militias are good and how they aren’t sectarian at all—completely the opposite to what others claim.”…

“We’re desperate to get any help from any side just to get rid of Islamic State,” said Sheikh Mal Allah al-Obaidi, a leader of the al-Obaidi tribe in Anbar. “With the current situation we live in, we don’t pay attention to a small violation [by the militias] here or there because we want to save people.”