Iraqi military not yet in Tikrit


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BAGHDAD (AP) — The battle for the Iraqi city of Tikrit may just be starting.

Iraqi security forces, with the help of Shiite, Sunni and Iranian fighters, today launched a large-scale military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown from the Islamic State extremist group.

It would be a major step in a campaign to reclaim territory in northern Iraq controlled by the militants.

But hours into the operation, Iraq's military said it still hadn't entered the city.

State-run TV says forces are attacking the city from different directions, backed by artillery and airstrikes from Iraqi fighter jets. It says the militants have been dislodged from some areas outside the city.

Tikrit fell to the Islamic State group last summer, along with the country's second-largest city of Mosul and other areas in Iraq's Sunni heartland.

Retaking the city will help Iraqi forces have a major supply link for any future operation to recapture Mosul.

%@AP Links

151-c-20-(Sameer Yacoub (sah-MEHR' yah-KOOB'), AP correspondent)-"them to return"-AP correspondent Sameer Yacoub reports Iraqi leaders want to regain the loyalty of Sunni leaders in the area around Tikrit because many have sided with the Islamic State group since that group's offensive began. (2 Mar 2015)

<<CUT *151 (03/02/15)££ 00:20 "them to return"

152-r-15-(Sound of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Haider (HY'-dur al ah-BAH'-dee), speaking Arabic, at news conference)--Sound of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi Haider saying in Arabic on Sunday that "an important military campaign to liberate the citizens" is underway in Tikrit. (2 Mar 2015)

<<CUT *152 (03/02/15)££ 00:15

APPHOTO BAG103: Iraqi Hezbollah fighters carry the coffin of their comrade Ali Mansour, who his family says was killed in Tikrit fighting Islamic militants, during his funeral procession, in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 2, 2015. Backed by allied Shiite and Sunni fighters, Iraqi security forces on Monday began a large-scale military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown from the Islamic State extremist group, state TV said, a major step in a campaign to reclaim a large swath of territory in northern Iraq controlled by the militants. (AP Photo/Jaber al-Helo) (2 Mar 2015)

<<APPHOTO BAG103 (03/02/15)££

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