ISIS being dislodged from Saddam's hometown
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Tuesday that Iraqi forces had reached the center of Tikrit in their push to retake the city from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants.
In a statement, al-Abadi said security forces already had retaken neighborhoods on the southern and western edges of the city and were moving to control the entire city.
Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi, the commander of the Salahuddin operation, said his forces fighting in from the west were still 325 yards from the center of Tikrit.
The large-scale operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown began on March 2.
Backed by Iran and pointedly without any U.S. cooperation, the offensive stalled until Baghdad reluctantly requested U.S. support. The American military began airstrikes on ISIS targets in and around Tikrit on March 25.