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| Islamic State conflict: Iraqi troops advance in Tikrit | Islamic State conflict: Iraqi troops advance in Tikrit |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Iraqi government forces have retaken a large part of north-eastern Tikrit as they battle IS militants to recapture the city, security officials say. | Iraqi government forces have retaken a large part of north-eastern Tikrit as they battle IS militants to recapture the city, security officials say. |
| Soldiers and Shia militiamen have reportedly raised the Iraqi flag at a hospital in the Qadisiya district, two-thirds of which is under their control. | Soldiers and Shia militiamen have reportedly raised the Iraqi flag at a hospital in the Qadisiya district, two-thirds of which is under their control. |
| But they have so far not made much progress in Tikrit's south and west. | |
| The operation to retake the hometown of Saddam Hussein is the biggest offensive yet by the Iraqi government. | The operation to retake the hometown of Saddam Hussein is the biggest offensive yet by the Iraqi government. |
| Iran is helping to co-ordinate the 30,000 soldiers and militiamen involved, who are not being supported by US-led coalition air strikes | Iran is helping to co-ordinate the 30,000 soldiers and militiamen involved, who are not being supported by US-led coalition air strikes |
| IS captured Tikrit last June after the Iraqi army collapsed in the face of a lightning advance by the group across northern and western Iraq. | |
| Bridge 'bombed' | |
| On Wednesday morning, a security official at the Samarra Operations Command in Salahuddin province told the BBC that government forces had entered north-eastern Tikrit after more than a week of heavy fighting in surrounding towns and villages, as well as on the city's outskirts. | |
| He said soldiers and Popular Mobilisation (Hashid Shaabi) militiamen now controlled two-thirds of Qadisya, Tikrit's largest district, and had raised the Iraqi flag at the nearby military hospital. | |
| He added that government forces had retaken the village of Samra, to the north-east, meaning they now had complete control of al-Alam district. | |
| But the official cautioned that clashes were still taking place in the south of Qadisiya and the government forces had failed to make any progress in the city's southern and western districts. | |
| The government's claims could not be immediately verified, and previous advances elsewhere in Iraq have subsequently been reversed by IS. | |
| On Tuesday, security officials said IS militants had bombed a bridge leading north to al-Alam to slow the advance of government forces. |