Iraqi forces seek backup in battle to retake Tikrit

Frustrated by guerrilla tactics from Islamic State militants, Iraqi forces paused for reinforcements on Saturday in a major offensive to take back the city of Tikrit.

The operation appeared to have stalled for the time being, two days after Iraqi security forces and their mainly Shi’ite militia allies pushed into Tikrit, the home city of executed ex-president Saddam Hussein.

A source in the military command said Iraqi forces would not move forward until reinforcements reached Tikrit, of which Islamic State still holds around half.

If government forces wrest full control, it will be the first time they have won back a city from Islamic State since it over-ran large areas of the country last year and declared an Islamic caliphate in territory it holds in Iraq and Syria.

From there it has spread fear across the region by beheading Arab and Western hostages and killing or kidnapping members of religious minorities like Yazidis and Christians.

In Tikrit, the militants have deployed snipers and turned streets into a labyrinth of homemade bombs and booby-trapped buildings.

Forces loyal to powerful Shi’ite cleric Moqtada alSadr and known as the Peace Brigades appeared to be positioning themselves to join the government offensive. Up to 1500 fighters had reached the sacred Shi’ite city of Samarra, south of Tikrit, a source in Sadr’s provincial office said.

A victory in Tikrit would give Iraqi forces momentum for the next stage of the campaign to retake Mosul.