Rebels Repel Iraqi Attempt To Re-Take Tikrit

Residents said there was no fighting in the city on
Wednesday morning, four days after Iraqi army assault
began .
Iraqi forces have withdrawn from the rebel - held
northern Iraqi city of Tikrit after a new push to retake
the city met heavy resistance , soldiers involved in the
operation said .
Government troops and allied Shia volunteer fighters
were forced to retreat just before sunset on Tuesday to
a base 4 km south after coming under heavy mortar
shelling and sniper fire , the sources said .
The attempt to retake Tikrit , which fell to Sunni fighters
led by the Islamic State group on June 12 , began two-
and - a - half weeks ago .
The failure highlights the difficulties of
Baghdad's struggle to recapture territory from the
fighters, who seized Mosul , Tikrit and other cities last
month in a rapid offensive, the Reuters news agency
reported .
Residents said there was no fighting on Wednesday
morning in Tikrit , which lies 160 km north of Baghdad.
It is a stronghold of ex - army officers and loyalists of
executed former leader Saddam Hussein 's Baath Party
who allied themselves with the Islamic State - led
offensive last month.
The Iraqi military had attacked from the village of
Awja , some 8 km south of the city, and the initial
fighting on Tuesday occurred in the southern part of
the city. The army retook Awja , the birthplace of
Saddam , on July 3 .
There was no word on casualties on either side after
the assault on Tikrit , but social media accounts
affiliated with the Islamic State group posted pictures
appearing to show some the fighters who had died in
the battle.
The social media accounts also claimed to have
downed an Iraqi army helicopter, but that claim could
not be verified.