Iraqi forces seized the center of Tikrit on Tuesday, driving out Islamic State militants after airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition opened the way for the push by ground forces.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi confirmed the liberation of the city in a televised address to the nation after Iraq’s security forces and popular mobilization units, a grouping of pro-government fighters that includes Iranian-backed Shiite militias, made rapid advances into the city.
“Our heroic forces have entered the center of Tikrit and have raised the Iraqi flag over the building of the provincial council,” Abadi said. “Now they are clearing the remaining edges.”
The advance was made possible after coalition and Iraqi planes launched “painful” strikes against Islamic State militants, he said.
The month-long battle to retake Tikrit, an Islamic State stronghold about 110 miles northwest of Baghdad, had stalled on the edges of the city. But U.S.-led coalition strikes helped clear the way for Iraqi forces to enter the city, which has been heavily rigged with roadside bombs and booby traps.
The participation of the Iranian-backed militias is likely to displease Washington, which earlier said they had withdrawn from the fight. Most of the militias had pulled back in opposition to the U.S. intervention, but they said Monday that they would after receiving assurances that U.S. airstrikes would cease.
However, a government spokesman said the coalition air cover was ongoing as Iraqi forces reached the outskirts of the sprawling compound of palaces, built by Saddam Hussein, where Islamic State militants are headquartered.
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Advancing from the south, police and militia forces reached Tikrit’s local government complex on Monday night, said Jassim Jabara, head of the security committee for the Salahuddin provincial council. The city’s former presidential palaces were still being cleared, he said.
Naim al-Abboudi, a spokesman for the Shiite paramilitary group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said his fighters were inside the city’s provincial council buildings.
Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for the government, said coalition airstrikes were continuing.
“The request for airstrikes is still active, and the government is still coordinating with the coalition on airstrikes,” he said. “There are still some targets that need to be dealt with by the coalition.”
Col. Wayne Marotto, a spokesman for the coalition operation, said one airstrike targeted Islamic State buildings overnight on Monday.
Mustafa Salim contributed to this report.
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