Iraqi Forces Retake most of Tikrit from ’ISIL’
Local Editor
About 75% of the Iraqi city of Tikrit is now back in government control. This comes as the joint Iraqi forces gained control of the city's Military Hospital. The hospital is a few blocks south of the presidential palace.
Recapturing Tikrit was seen as a key step toward rolling back the extremist group, which seized much of northern and western Iraq.
Iraqi troops and allied popular volunteers entered Tikrit for the first time Wednesday from the north and south.
The head of the military operation declared that troops would launch phase two of the operation later in the day as they try to reach the city center. However, he spoke anonymously as he was not authorized to brief the media.
Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi visited the troops and met with senior military commanders of the Tikrit operation as well as Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Quds Brigades, an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province, sits on the Tigris River about 130 kilometers [80 miles] north of Baghdad.
Several of Saddam's palaces remain there, and supporters of the deceased dictator were believed to have played a key role in the "ISIL" group's seizure of the city last year.
In a related notion, Iraqi officials had shown the footage, which they said proved "ISIL" militants were using chlorine gas in roadside bomb attacks.
The videos showed bomb disposal teams carrying out controlled explosions, which sent plumes of orange smoke into the air.
The bombs contain small concentrations of a chemical agent and in open ground are unlikely to be lethal.
Experts said they were designed to create fear rather than harm.
In addition, there had been multiple reports that "ISIL" had been deploying chlorine gas since late last year, but Iraqi officials indicated their footage confirms its use.
Haider Taher, from the Iraq Bomb Disposal Team, said troops had defused dozens of devices containing chlorine as part of the offensive against the militants.
"They have resorted to this new method," he declared. "They're putting chlorine inside these homemade roadside bombs, which is toxic for those that inhale it."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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