Iraqi government forces backed by allied Shi'ite and Sunni fighters have begun a large-scale military operation to recapture the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State group, state TV says.
Al-Iraqiya television said on Monday that the forces were backed by artillery and airstrikes from Iraqi fighter jets.
It said the militants were dislodged from some areas outside the city but gave no details.
Hours ahead of the operation, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called on Sunni tribal fighters to abandon the extremist group, promising them a pardon.
Tikrit, about 130 kilometres north of Baghdad, fell into the hands of IS last northern summer along with the country's second-largest city of Mosul and other areas in the Sunni heartland.
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