[55] The city of Tikrit, located in the central part of the Saladin Governorate in north of Baghdad and Samarra and lying adjacent to the Tigris River, was lost to ISIL during the huge strides made by the group during its offensive in June 2014.

[17][52] Cleanup and defusing operations in the city continued, but Iraqi officials predicted that it would take at least several months to remove the estimated 5,000–10,000 IEDs left behind by ISIL in Tikrit.

[70] The operation in Tikrit counted as the first major attempt by both Iraqi military and the Iran-backed Shiite to recapture ground seized by the Islamic State group since the previous summer.

[83][84] On 2 March 2015, the Iraqi government launched a massive military operation to recapture Tikrit,[86] with 20,000–30,000 allied fighters, backed by aircraft, besieging the city on three fronts.

[87] On 3 March, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)—in cooperation with local tribes and militias—captured the strategic oil fields of Alas and 'Ajeel in eastern Tikrit, after the ISIL militants were relentlessly bombarded by a barrage of artillery shells and gunfire from the east.

Continuing their offensive, the ISF took complete control of the highway between Tuz Khurmato and Tikrit, raising the Iraqi flag at the police headquarters in the town of Ksayba, following their fierce clashes with ISIL combatants.

[88] The high number of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) ISIL planted along the possible routes of advance towards Tikrit necessitated that the allied commanders operate with diligence and caution.

[91] On 9 March, the allied forces rapidly advanced on and captured the town of Al-Alam, which lies to the northeast of Tikrit and was the last line of communication ISIL militants had left with their territories to the north.

[19][94] Also, at this time, ISIL hung dead bodies at the entrance to the northern town of Hawija, which were those of militants who deserted from Tikrit, according to Al Rai's chief correspondent Elijah J.

[103][104] A temporary halt to the advance was made in order to bring up specialists as well as elite troops with more urban warfare experience for the final push into the city center held by the remaining ISIL militants.

[108][109] After Iraqi forces took the control of al-Awja, Shia militiamen of the Popular Mobilization Committee placed the Shi'ite militia's insignia around the village, including that of the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani—their commander, and also a veteran of the Iran–Iraq War waged by Saddam Hussein.

Due to the unexpected resistance, there were reports of mounting casualties sustained by the allied side,[46] who called up their specialist forces to engage in urban warfare in the city center.

[4][117] That night, U.S. aircraft carried out 17 airstrikes in the center of Tikrit, which struck an ISIL building, two bridges, three checkpoints, two staging areas, two berms, a roadblock, and a command and control facility.

A spokesman for Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq said, "We announced that we will suspend our operations as we won't accept the Iraqi government giving the victory to the Americans on a golden plate.

[116][118] On 26 March, Royal Air Force Tornado GR4s, supported by a Voyager tanker, used Paveway IV laser-guided bombs to attack three ISIL strongholds in Tikrit.

The regular government troops were in no rush to capture the center of Tikrit, especially since they felt disappointed and in need of changing their plans after the paramilitary forces withdrew from the battle.

[120] On 29 March, an attempt by the Iraqi Army to advance from the southern Shisheen district was repelled when ISIL fighters destroyed a bulldozer being used by the military to clear a path around booby-trapped roads.

[138] Beginning on 1 April, Shi'ite militias entered the city, with multiple fighters burning buildings, looting, vandalizing, and mobbing and killing ISIL POWs, and sometimes mutilating their corpses.

In one instance, a foreign ISIL fighter captured by the militias was stabbed to death and then hung from a street light, while local forces stood by and witnessed the lynching.

[140] On 4 April, 80% of the Shia militias pulled out of Tikrit, in response to complaints by locals that some of the fighters had spent several days looting the Sunni city after helping retake it from ISIL.

[142] Fighting continued through the next several days,[143] with Brigadier General Thamer al-Hamdani, the director of the Anti-Explosives department in Tikrit, being killed when a booby-trapped house exploded in Qadisiya on 7 April.

[66] On the same day, Abu Maria, the ISIL leader of the parts of the Saladin Governorate stretching from Al-Hajaj to Albu-Tema, was killed by Iraqi forces near the Ajil Oilfield, to the northeast of Tikrit.

[152] Some U.S. commentators and media outlets expressed misgivings with regard to the clear and overt role played by Iran and the myriad of Shia militias under its influence and how this could conceivably give rise to further sectarian tensions in the Sunni population of the country.

[158] Hadi al-Amiri criticized those who were "kissing the hands of the Americans", saying that the U.S. failed to live up to its promises to help Iraq fight ISIL, unlike the "unconditional" assistance being given by Iran.

[39] Despite this, American general Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has stated his belief that the Tikrit offensive would have been impossible without US air strikes against ISIS in other areas of Iraq.

Iran is taking over the country," Prince Saud al-Faisal, foreign minister of the Sunni Muslim kingdom, said after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

[26] Already there was speculation on the future course of the war against ISIL after the retaking of Tikrit, with analysts hinting at Mosul as the next great target of the allies' thrust northwards along the Tigris River.

Videos have emerged allegedly showing Iraqi Special Operations Forces (U.S.-trained) carrying out various atrocities and war crimes against civilians and captured ISIL militants.

A prominent Iraqi Sunni preacher, Abdul Jabbar, has been quoted as saying "We ask that actions follow words to punish those who are attacking houses in Tikrit... we are sorry about those acting in revenge that might ignite tribal anger and add to our sectarian problems.

[170] A senior adviser to the Iraqi government, Zaid al-Ali, made mention of Shi'ite religious scholars (marja'een) from the city of Najaf travelling to the battlefield to advocate against acts of revenge and abuse.