Iraqi forces, supported by Shiite volunteer militiamen, planned to attack the jihadist group’s militants from three different points in Tikrit’s south and west, security officials said.

Reuters news agency quoted an army major and a police captain as saying the government forces were advancing rapidly from the south but that they were slowed down by landmines, roadside bombs and IS snipers.

Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad, on the banks of the river Tigris, is the hometown of executed former dictator, Saddam Hussein.

The city was taken by jihadist fighters on June 11, and has been controlled since then mostly by Sunni militant groups, including former members of Saddam's ruling Baath party.

Two previous attempts to retake the city have failed.

Strategic recapture

The new offensive comes after Iraqi and Kurdish forces seized the strategic Mosul Dam and some villages around it earlier on Monday. They were supported by US fighter jets and drones that launched 15 airstrikes near the area.

IS militants had seized control of the Mosul Dam on August 7, giving them control of major power and water reserves and putting them in a position from where they could deny supplies to the rest of the country.

Following the capturing of Mosul Dam, US President Barack Obama said that the airstrikes were part of a long-term plan to defeat the IS.

"We will continue to pursue a long-term strategy to turn the tide against IS by supporting the new Iraqi government and working with key partners in the region," he said.

This was the first time Washington intervened in Iraq after it withdrew its troops in 2011.

Emergency aid announced

The UN refugee agency has meanwhile mounted a massive aid effort to help nearly 500,000 Iraqis fleeing IS militants. UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told Reuters: "Barring last-minute delays, an air, road and sea operation will begin tomorrow, startng with a four-day airlift using Boeing 747s from Aqaba in Jordan to Irbil, followed by road convoys from Turkey and Jordan, and sea and land shipments from Dubai via Iran over the next 10 days."

Initial supplies include 3,000 tents, 200,000 plastic sheets, kitchen sets and jerry cans. Edwards said that the aid coming from outside would help to meet the needs of the most vulnerable people. "This is a major humanitarian crisis and disaster and it continues to affect very large numbers of people," Edwards insisted.

The UNHCR estimates that nearly 1.2 million people have fled their homes across Iraq this year. Around 200,000 are temporarily living in Iraq's Kurdistan region. Those fleeing the IS include minority communities such as the Yazidis, who are being persecuted by the IS.

The IS is a splinter group of the al- Qaeda network. The organization’s Sunni members profess an orthodox version of Islam and rule of the Sharia law. The group seized large swathes of Iraq in June this year and is determined to establish an Islamic "caliphate" in the region.

mg/tj (dpa, Reuters)