Iraqi security troops, backed by Shia, Sunni volunteers and tribal forces, have reportedly entered the strategic city of Tikrit from multiple directions, reports say.
Iraqi forces have reportedly taken control of the al-Qadisiyah neighborhood from the ISIL militants, also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh. The extremist group is believed to be besieged in the center of the city.
According to reports, the extremist group suffered heavy losses during the Iraqi offensive, with onlookers describing the streets of Tikrit being filled with the bodies of ISIL fighters. Some were killed by the Iraqi forces, while others were executed by other ISIL militants for fleeing the battle.
In a statement, the Tikrit tribesman have announced that they too are participating in the fight to push out the group out of Tikrit.
Meanwhile, Iraqi warplanes conducted several airstrikes on ISIL militants in Tikrit.
Peshmarga forces led an offensive against the group near Hawija in the Riyad district, located 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad.
ISIL fighters have reportedly fled to the town of Shirqat north of Tikrit on the way to Mosul.
The Iraqi army has been launching massive operations in the past several days to retake Tikrit from ISIL militants.
Last week, 30,000 Iraqi forces started a huge operation to recapture the embattled city of Tikrit in the northern province of Salahuddin from Takfiri elements.
According to reports, a number of villages and oilfields near Tikrit, which is the birthplace of Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussein, have been retaken.
Tikrit has a strategic position as it sits on the road to Mosul.
Located some 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, Tikrit was overrun by ISIL in summer 2014 along with Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul and other areas in the Arab country’s Sunni heartland.
This content has been modified from source material
