Iraq ISLAMIC STATE

IRAQ LAUNCHES GROUND OFFENSIVE AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE IN TIKRIT…….

The home town of the deposed and executed tyrant, Saddam Hussein.

Iraq launches offensive to take back Tikrit from ISIL

Thousands of troops, Shia militia and armed Sunni tribesmen launch large-scale offensive, Iraqi state TV reports.

| War & Conflict, Middle East

ISIL has launched pre-emptive strikes as government forces and their allies advance into Tikrit and Samarra [Reuters] ISIL has launched pre-emptive strikes as government forces and their allies advance into Tikrit and Samarra [Reuters]

Iraq’s state TV says government forces backed by allied Shia and Sunni fighters have begun a large-scale military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein’s hometown from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Al-Iraqiya television said on Monday that the forces were attacking the city of Tikrit, backed by artillery and airstrikes by Iraqi fighter jets.

It said the ISIL fighters were dislodged from some areas outside the city, but gave no details.

Hours ahead of the operation, Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi called on Sunni tribal fighters to abandon the group, promising them a pardon.

Tikrit, some 130km north of Baghdad, fell into the hands of ISIL last summer along with the country’s second-largest city of Mosul and other areas in Sunni heartland.

On Sunday, Iraqi forces launched a military offensive against ISIL in other parts of the strategic province of Salahuddin, which includes Tikrit.

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