DHAKA: Iraq has launched a military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS).

Troops and militia were said to be attacking on different fronts, backed by airstrikes from Iraqi fighter jets, reports the BBC.

The government says that its forces are advancing into the city but this has not been confirmed.

Tikrit lies 150km north of the capital Baghdad and was seized by IS militants in June 2014.

Al-Iraqiya TV said that IS militants had been dislodged from some areas of Salahuddin province, outside Tikrit.

It added that Iraqi troops and fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella group of Shia militia fighting IS, were moving into Tikrit as airstrikes hit militant strongholds.

BDST: 1808 HRS, MAR 02, 2015