Roundup: Iraqi forces enter Tikrit, as IS suicide bombings hit Ramadi

Iraqi security forces on Wednesday recaptured large parts of Tikrit city, capital of Salahudin province after 10 days of major offensive against the Islamic State (IS) militant group, while the extremist militants carried out deadly attacks on the security forces in the city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar, security source and officials said.

In Salahudin province, the troops and government-backed Shiite and Sunni militias entered Tikrit, which located some 170 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and captured the northern district of al-Qadsiyah, in addition to the northern central areas of the city, the security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

They also captured the industrial district and two nearby western districts, while more troops are making their way to the center of the city from the southern districts of Shisheen and Albu Obied, the source said.

The troops, supported by dozens of tanks, armored vehicles, heavy artillery shelling and Iraqi aircraft, are pushing forward amid sporadic clashes with the IS militants, most of whom apparently fled their positions in the city after they planted hundreds of landmines, roadside bombs and booby-trapped buildings, the source told Xinhua.

"Tikrit will be liberated soon after the security forces, Hashid al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) militias and fighters of the Sunni tribes have surrounded the city from all directions and are moving forward to clear it from the extremists," the provincial governor, Raed al-Jubouri, told reporters.

For his part, Marwan al-Jbara, spokesman of a council includes the provincial anti-IS tribal leaders, told Xinhua "large part of Tikrit has been liberated and the battle now is mainly to defuse bombs and landmines as many of the IS militants have fled the city."

The troops also cleared some of Saddam Hussein luxurious palaces from the IS militants and rest of the former presidential palaces and villas will be freed later after defeating the militants, al-Jbara said.

In January, the IS militants planted bombs into nine palaces, including the largest al-Farouq palace in southern Tikrit, and detonated them, destroying large parts of the buildings.

There are a total of 76 palaces, smaller villas and artificial lakes and date orchards, most of them were built near the Tigris River, stretching from northern Tikrit to Saddam's village of Awja, some 12 km south of the city.

"It is a matter of time to free the whole city of Tikrit, until the troops will clear the planted bombs and deal with the remnants of the extremist militants," al-Jbara added.

Early on Tuesday, the Iraqi forces launched their major operation as they tried to enter the outer neighborhoods of Tikrit, but were slowed by fierce clashes with IS militants and roadside bombs.

Some 30,000 Iraqi troops and thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias have been involved in 10-day offensive to recapture Tikrit and other key towns and villages in northern part of the Salahudin province from IS militants who seized large parts of the province since June 2014

Meanwhile, the IS group apparently wanted to compensate its loss in Salahudin province and to distract the attention from its defeat there, the group carried out coordinated attacks by dozens of its fighters and suicide car bombers on the security forces in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.

A provincial security source told Xinhua that seven car bombs, some of them were suicide car bombings, detonated at checkpoints and military bases in the government-held areas in the city, which located some 110 km west of Baghdad.

The huge bombings were followed by heavy clashes in al-Houz district which is adjacent to the government compound, and three others districts in the center of the partially IS-held city, leaving at least 17 security members killed and some 30 others wounded, the source said.

Later in the day, Sabah Karhout, head of Anbar's provincial council, told reporters that the troops foiled the attacks of about 17 suicide bombers, including suicide car bombings, backed by dozens of militants on the partially IS-held city of Ramadi, killing 41 IS militants, including the suicide bombers.

"The security forces and the tribal fighters managed to defeat one of the most powerful attacks on Ramadi by Daash (IS militant group) since the beginning of the year," Karhout said.

The IS group has seized around 80 percent of Iraq's largest province Anbar and tried to advance toward Baghdad, but several counter attacks by security forces and Shiite militias have pushed them back.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 10 last year, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the IS.

The IS has taken control of the country's northern province of Nineveh, and then seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in other predominantly Sunni provinces. Endit