PHOTO: Iraqi forces and Shia militia at Presidential Palaces in Tikrit
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has declared that Iraqi troops and Shia militia are close to complete takeover of Tikrit in northern Iraq from the Islamic State.
“Our security forces have reached the centre of Tikrit and they have liberated the southern and western sides and they are moving towards the control of the whole city,” Abadi said in a statement on Tuesday.
Renewing their advance on Monday after more than two weeks, Iraqi forces and Shia militia retook key positions in Tikrit in northern Iraq from the Islamic State.
The attackers reclaimed the Salaheddin Provincial Government headquarters on Tuesday, according to officials.
The offensive made initial progress almost a month ago, taking the area near Tikrit and about half of the city, but then stalled in the face of Islamic State resistance. The US launched airstrikes last week to bolster the ground assault, but this brought objections from the Shia militia, who briefly threatened to withdraw from the offensive.
The spokesman for the Badr Brigades said members of the Popular Mobilisation Units took part in the latest fighting.
Officials also said on Monday that the Central Hospital had been captured and four neighborhoods in southern Tikrit were reclaimed. He said advancing forces dealt with more than 300 improvised explosive devices planted in the streets by the Islamic State.
At least 26 jihadists were killed in the operation, the official said.
The Islamic State captured Tikrit, about 80 miles north of Baghdad, in a lightning offensive across northern and eastern Iraq last June.