Iraq launches military operation to recapture Tikrit

Iraqi troops.
(Image credit: Twitter.com/Haaretz)

A large-scale military operation by Iraqi government forces to take back Tikrit from ISIS is underway, Iraqi state television reports.

See more

The forces are backed by allied Shiite and Sunni fighters and artillery and airstrikes by Iraqi fighter jets, The Associated Press reports. Some militants are said to have been forced out of areas near Tikrit, which is 80 miles north of Baghdad and Saddam Hussein’s hometown. Tikrit fell to ISIS last summer, and before the operation, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told Sunni fighters that if they left the militant orgnanization, they would be pardoned.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.