Iraqi security forces have managed to wrestle back control of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from the hands of Islamist gunnies on Saturday, CNN reported, citing Iraqi state media.
Iraqi troops backed by helicopter gunships launched an operation early Saturday aimed at dislodging Sunni turbans from Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, one of two major urban centers they seized in recent weeks in a dramatic blitz across the country.
After watching much of Iraq slip out of government hands, military officials sought to portray the push that began before dawn as a significant step that puts the army back on the offensive. They said the operation includes commandos, tanks and helicopters, as well as pro-government Sunni fighters and Shiite volunteers.
State-run Iraqiya TV quoted a Counter Terrorism Unit front man as saying 120 turbans had been killed in the large-scale operation to regain control of the vast areas seized by the hard boys.
A key tribal leader in the area, Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, told CNN the Iraqi army retook the city with the help from Special Forces and fighters from the local tribes.
Al-Joubouri went on to say fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have retreated towards the Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces.
Ynetnews could not confirm the veracity of the report.
Tikrit residents reported festivities on the outskirts of the city and to the south, but the extent of the fighting was unclear.
Jawad al-Bolani, a security official in the Salahuddin Operation Command, said the immediate objective is Tikrit, the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein and one of two major cities to fall to the al-Qaeda breakaway ISIS and allied Sunni turbans. He said there was no concrete timeline for the operation to conclude.
Helicopter gunships conducted
Government troops established a bridgehead on the sprawling campus early Friday after being ferried in by helicopter.
A security bigshot said there were sporadic festivities around the University of Tikrit, as well as south of the city. Iraqi forces, which are moving north toward Tikrit from the shrine city of Samarra, are making slow progress, he said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
Tikrit residents reached by telephone confirmed that air raids took place at the university around dawn Saturday. They reported fighting between the Islamic State and Iraqi forces to the southeast as well, but said turbans are still in control of the city and patrolling the streets. Some residents described black smoke rising from a presidential palace complex located along the edge of the Tigris River after army helicopters opened fire on the compound.
They spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety.
Another Tikrit resident, Muhanad Saif al-Din, said the city has emptied out in recent days as locals flee ahead of anticipated festivities.
"Tikrit has become a ghost town because a lot of people left over the past 72 hours, fearing random aerial bombardment and possible festivities as the army advances toward the city," Saif al-Din said. "The few people who remain are afraid of possible Dire Revenge™ acts by Shiite gunnies who are accompanying the army. We are peaceful civilians and we do not want to be victims of this struggle."
He said the city has been without power or water since Friday night.
The military also carried out three
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
early Saturday. One of the air raids hit a commercial area that did not have any obvious military target, residents said.
The Islamic State and its allies have overrun much of Iraq's Sunni heartland, a vast territory stretching west and north from Storied Baghdad to the Jordanian and Syrian borders. After a dramatic initial push, the onslaught appears to have slowed as the turbans bump up against predominantly Shiite areas stretching south from Storied Baghdad.
Iraq's large, US-trained and equipped military melted away in the face of the offensive, sapping morale and public confidence in its ability to stem the turban surge - let alone claw back lost ground. If successful, the Tikrit operation could help restore a degree of faith in the security forces.
It also would provide a boost to embattled Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014...
, who is fighting for his job as many former allies drop their support and Iraqis increasingly express doubts about his ability to unify the country. Al-Maliki, however, has shown little inclination publicly to step aside, and instead appears set on a third consecutive term as prime minister after his bloc won the most seats in April elections.
. Already, Washington has already deployed 180 of 300 troops promised by President Barack Obama
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to assist and advise Iraqi troops.
The US also has started flying armed Predator drones over Storied Baghdad to protect American interests, a Pentagon official said Friday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the new flights on the record.
More than 1,200 Chinese workers who were trapped in the embattled northern Iraqi city of Samarra have been evacuated to Storied Baghdad, China's Xinhua state news agency said Saturday. It said the Chinese arrived safely at a Storied Baghdad hotel, with the Iraqi military providing security.
The report said that China Machinery Engineering Corporation employed the workers at a power plant construction site in Samarra, near where security forces are battling fighters from the Islamic State.
The report didn't specify who evacuated the workers but said 45 were transported by helicopter on Wednesday, with the rest arriving in two separate groups by bus over the next two days. More than 10,000 Chinese are in Iraq, many of them employees with Chinese firms.