Iraqi troops advance in north Tikrit

Iraqi government forces have retaken a large part of north-eastern Tikrit as they battle IS militants to recapture the city, security officials say.

Soldiers and Shia militiamen have reportedly raised the Iraqi flag at a hospital in the Qadisiya district, two-thirds of which is under their control.

But they have so far not made much progress in Tikrit's south and west.

The operation to retake the hometown of Saddam Hussein is the biggest offensive yet by the Iraqi government.

Iran is helping to co-ordinate the 30,000 soldiers and militiamen involved, who are not being supported by US-led coalition air strikes

IS captured Tikrit last June after the Iraqi army collapsed in the face of a lightning advance by the group across northern and western Iraq.

On Wednesday, an Iraqi security official told the News that government forces had entered north-eastern Tikrit after 10 days of heavy fighting in towns and villages along the Tigris river to the north and south.

He said soldiers and Iranian-backed Popular Mobilisation (Hashid Shaabi) militiamen now controlled two-thirds of Qadisya, Tikrit's largest district, and had raised the Iraqi flag at the nearby military hospital.

The Popular Mobilisation, made up of Shia militiamen, has taken a lead role against IS

Government forces were greeted by residents of al-Alam, north of Tikrit, on Tuesday

Raed al-Jubouri, the governor of Salahuddin province, of which Tikrit is the capital, also announced that the "purging" of the Qadisiya district was under way.

The security official added that government forces had earlier retaken the village of Samra, to the north-east, meaning they now had complete control of al-Alam district.

But he cautioned that clashes were still taking place in the south of Qadisiya and the government forces had failed to make any progress elsewhere in the city.

The Reuters news agency reported that the advance in Qadisiya stalled when troops came under fire from snipers and had to pause to defuse roadside bombs and booby-trapped buildings.

The Iraqi official also said an assault had been launched from the motorway west of Tikrit towards the al-Hayakil and al-Diyum districts, and the city's industrial zone.