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| Iraqi forces battle Islamic State in streets of strategic Tikrit | Iraqi forces battle Islamic State in streets of strategic Tikrit |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BAGHDAD —The fight for Tikrit moved into the streets Wednesday as Iraqi forces pushed past bomb-laced cordons in attempts to oust Islamic State militants from the strategic gateway city. | BAGHDAD —The fight for Tikrit moved into the streets Wednesday as Iraqi forces pushed past bomb-laced cordons in attempts to oust Islamic State militants from the strategic gateway city. |
| The clashes marked the first within the city limits since the government launched its offensive to retake the area earlier this month, and they signaled possible gains in the important showdown over the city about 110 miles northwest of Baghdad. | |
| Regaining Tikrit would give the Iraqi government and its allied fighters — some closely linked to Iran — a key stepping stone in efforts to push farther north into Islamic State-held territory, including the major city of Mosul. | Regaining Tikrit would give the Iraqi government and its allied fighters — some closely linked to Iran — a key stepping stone in efforts to push farther north into Islamic State-held territory, including the major city of Mosul. |
| Meanwhile, Islamic State fighters struck back on other fronts in Syria and Iraq, carrying out a series of suicide car bombings against Iraqi military positions in the western city of Ramadi. | |
| Iraqi troops and militias entered Tikrit at 4 a.m. local time, a government spokesman said, after approaching the city from several directions and besieging Islamic State fighters. | Iraqi troops and militias entered Tikrit at 4 a.m. local time, a government spokesman said, after approaching the city from several directions and besieging Islamic State fighters. |
| A volunteer force known as Hashd al-Shaabi took control of the Tikrit Military Hospital, the group’s media office said. Pro-government forces clashed with Islamic State militants elsewhere in Tikrit, including in the city’s largest neighborhood, Qadisiya. | A volunteer force known as Hashd al-Shaabi took control of the Tikrit Military Hospital, the group’s media office said. Pro-government forces clashed with Islamic State militants elsewhere in Tikrit, including in the city’s largest neighborhood, Qadisiya. |
| The jihadists have planted thousands of improvised explosive devices seeking to slow the advance of Iraqi troops, security officials said. | |
| On Tuesday, militants also destroyed a bridge linking Tikrit to its northern suburbs, hampering Iraqi military efforts to recapture the city. | On Tuesday, militants also destroyed a bridge linking Tikrit to its northern suburbs, hampering Iraqi military efforts to recapture the city. |
| Still, government-led forces appeared to maintain momentum. In June, the Islamic State seized Tikrit — the home town and power base of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein — after a stunning offensive across most of northern Iraq. | |
| The offensive to rout the militants from Tikrit, announced March 1, includes a combined force of tens of thousands of troops and predominantly Shiite militias, backed by Iran. | |
| U.S. warplanes have been noticeably absent from the operations, despite striking Islamic State targets elsewhere in Iraq. Iraqi officials have suggested that U.S. air power is not necessary to dislodge the militants from Tikrit, raising questions over the depth of the U.S.-Iraqi alliance to fight the Islamic State. | U.S. warplanes have been noticeably absent from the operations, despite striking Islamic State targets elsewhere in Iraq. Iraqi officials have suggested that U.S. air power is not necessary to dislodge the militants from Tikrit, raising questions over the depth of the U.S.-Iraqi alliance to fight the Islamic State. |
| But in the north, aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition have targeted Islamic State positions during an offensive by Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga. The operations outside Kirkuk, about 70 miles northeast of Tikrit, have forced militants to retreat to their stronghold in the town of Hawija, Kurdish and Iraqi officials said. | But in the north, aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition have targeted Islamic State positions during an offensive by Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga. The operations outside Kirkuk, about 70 miles northeast of Tikrit, have forced militants to retreat to their stronghold in the town of Hawija, Kurdish and Iraqi officials said. |
| On Wednesday, a pro-government Sunni fighter from the Tikrit suburb of Alam posted photos on Facebook from inside the town, which was taken by government forces on Tuesday. | |
| Alam is a stronghold of the Sunni Jubbour tribe, which has joined forces with Shiite militias to oust the jihadists from the area in a key test of Sunni-Shiite cooperation. | |
| Many Sunnis — who dominated Iraq under Hussein’s regime — perceive discrimination and a weakened political voice at the hands of Iraqi’s Shiite-led government. | Many Sunnis — who dominated Iraq under Hussein’s regime — perceive discrimination and a weakened political voice at the hands of Iraqi’s Shiite-led government. |
| In Abu Ajeel, a village east of Tikrit, Shiite gunmen torched the homes of Sunni residents, underscoring sectarian tensions. | In Abu Ajeel, a village east of Tikrit, Shiite gunmen torched the homes of Sunni residents, underscoring sectarian tensions. |
| “Thank God, al-Alam is doing excellent,” the Sunni fighter, Omar al-Jebbara, wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday. | “Thank God, al-Alam is doing excellent,” the Sunni fighter, Omar al-Jebbara, wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday. |
| Jebbara posted images of himself inside the town, including one of him kneeling next to the grave of a female member of the tribe, Oumaya al-Jebbara, who died fighting the Islamic State in Alam last summer. Jebbara said pro-government forces have erected their own checkpoints in Alam. | |
| But in western Iraq, Islamic State fighters remained on the offensive Wednesday. Local officials said the militants detonated as many as seven car bombs — and possibly more — in apparently coordinated attacks in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. | |
| About 300 U.S. military advisers are stationed at the al-Asad airbase, also in Anbar. | |
| In Syria, Islamic State militants opened an offensive against the predominantly Kurdish town of Ras al-Ayn on the Syrian-Turkish border, the Associated Press reported, citing a Kurdish official and an activist group. | |
| Kurdish Democratic Union Party spokesman Nawaf Khalil described the Islamic State’s attack as “wide-scale and powerful.” | |
| Mustafa Salim in Baghdad and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. | Mustafa Salim in Baghdad and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. |
| Read more: | Read more: |
| Islamic State appears to be fraying from within | Islamic State appears to be fraying from within |
| Unusual alliance provides hope in fight against Islamic State in Iraq | Unusual alliance provides hope in fight against Islamic State in Iraq |
| Strains plague Iraqi, U.S. assessments of long-term fight against Islamic State | Strains plague Iraqi, U.S. assessments of long-term fight against Islamic State |