Iraq launches major assault to retake Tikrit from ISIL

Some 30,000 Iraqi troops and militia backed by aircraft pounded jihadists in and around Tikrit in the biggest offensive yet to retake one of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)'s main strongholds.
      
Government forces have battled their way north for months, notching up key victories against ISIL, but Tikrit has been their toughest target yet, with the jihadists having resisted them several times.
      
Commanders voiced hope the operation, launched Monday, would be a step towards the recapture of Mosul, the jihadists' main hub in Iraq, although a US envoy leading an international coalition against ISIL said no timeline should be imposed.
      
"The army, federal police, Popular Mobilisation (volunteer) units, and the sons of Salaheddin's tribes are performing the duties of liberation in the largest operation against Daesh since June," said a senior army officer on the ground, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.
      
"We are certain of victory... but the operation is not easy," the officer told AFP.
      
The operation to retake Tikrit began early Monday after being announced by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi the previous evening.
      
Military sources said warplanes were involved, but the Pentagon said they excluded those of the US-led coalition fighting ISIL.
      
It was unclear whether Iranian planes were involved, however.
      
Both Iraqi and Iranian media said Qassem Soleimani -- the commander of the Al-Quds Force covert operations unit of Tehran's elite Revolutionary Guards -- was in Salaheddin province, of which Tikrit is the capital, to help coordinate operations.
                      
Hadi al-Ameri, the Popular Mobilisation units' powerful commander, on...