Tri-Service

Iraqi Security Forces Begin Effort to Retake Tikrit From IS

Iraqi security forces, backed by allied Shia and Sunni fighters, have begun a large-scale military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State, state TV said.

The move is a major step in a campaign to reclaim a large swathe of territory in northern Iraq controlled by the militants.

But hours into the operation, a key test for the embattled Iraqi army, the military said it had still not entered the city, indicating a long battle lies ahead.

Tikrit, the provincial capital for Salauhddin province, 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of Baghdad, fell into the hands of IS last summer along with the country's second-largest city of Mosul and other areas in the country's Sunni heartland after the collapse of national security forces. Tikrit is one of the largest cities held by IS forces and sits on the road to Mosul.

Security forces have so far been unable to retake Tikrit, but momentum has begun to shift since soldiers, backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, took back the nearby refinery town of Beiji in November. Any operation to take Mosul would require Iraq to seize Tikrit first because of its strategic location for military enforcements.

US military officials have said a co-ordinated military mission to retake Mosul is likely to begin in April or May and involve up to 25,000 Iraqi troops. But they have cautioned that if the Iraqis are not ready, the timing could be delayed.

The military commander of Salahuddin region, General Abdul-Wahab Saadi, told state TV the operation was "going on as planned", with fighting taking place outside Tikrit mainly on its eastern side.