Iraqi forces clear remaining IS redoubts in Tikrit

Iraqi security forces Wednesday fought remaining pockets of Islamic State (IS) militants in the freed city of Tikrit, officials said.

Troops are fighting the last redoubts of the IS group in the al-Qadisiyah district in northern Tikrit, located some 170 km north of Baghdad, Iraqi Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban told reporters during his visit to the city.

"We have liberated most of the city, only small parts remain under IS control. Within the coming hours we will announce positive developments after we eliminate remaining pockets in the city," Ghabban said.

"After clearing areas from roadside and car bombs, we will reopen police stations to restore normal life. We will also form a committee to oversee returning displaced families to their homes," Ghabban added.

Haider al-Abadi, Iraqi Prime Minister and commander-in-chief of Iraqi armed forces, ordered local police to take over security responsibilities in arrangement with the Interior Ministry.

Abadi also held a meeting with provincial governor of Salahudin Raed al-Jubouri and head of the provincial council Ahmed al-Kraiym, and issued directives to restore basic services to the city and prepare it for the return of its displaced people.

Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said in a statement that Iraqi forces attained a "great victory" and "accomplished their mission and remained faithful to their pledge of liberating Salahudin province and cleared it of Daash (IS militant group)."

"Here we come Anbar. Here we come Nineveh, we state that with absolute resolve, certainty and persistence," Obeidi said, referring to the coming battles aiming to free both the provinces of Anbar in western Iraq and Nineveh in the north.

Meanwhile, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua that security forces and allied Shiite and Sunni militias are carrying out clearing operations in some areas across Tikrit, chasing IS militants believed to be holed up in the presidential palace complex of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, as well as in the districts of al-Qadisiyah and al-Shyaisha.

In the town of Alam, east of Tikrit, local police clashed with a group of IS militants who fled the Tikrit battle attempting to find a safe house in town, leaving 12 militants and a police officer dead, the source said.

Abadi declared the liberation of Tikrit Tuesday after month-long battles with IS militants when around 30,000 Iraqi troops and thousands of Shiite and Sunni militias became involved in Iraq's biggest offensive to recapture from IS militants the northern part of Salahudin province, including Tikrit and other key towns and villages.

Large sectors of the province have been under IS control since June 2014, after bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi forces and IS. Endit