BBC, Baghdad :Iraqi forces hope to retake the city of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS) within a week, a commander has told the BBC.The head of one of the Shia militia brigades fighting alongside government forces said that IS militants still held about 70% of Tikrit’s town centre.But he said Tikrit would be “liberated” even if it required street-to-street fighting.Soldiers and militiamen have reportedly retaken key sites including a police headquarters and a hospital.The BBC’s Jonathan Beale in Tikrit says the sound of artillery and small arms fire can be heard only a few kilometres from the city centre.Muain al-Khmdy, a commander of the Iranian-backed Badr Brigade, told the BBC that pro-government forces would surround IS-held areas of the city and then attack, aiming to drive IS fighters from their positions. Several hundred militants are believed to be holding out in Tikrit, our correspondent says.The pro-government force ranged against them includes about 3,000 Iraqi troops with 20,000 Shia militiamen and a much smaller force of Sunni tribesmen.Earlier, Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled al-Obedi told the BBC that recapturing Tikrit could be a turning point in the battle against IS.He described the city as a stepping stone to other IS-held territory, including Mosul – the country’s second largest city.”The liberation of this city [Tikrit] and province will serve as a launch pad for reclaiming the north and the west of Iraq,” he said.The BBC’s Ahmed Maher in Tikrit says Iraqi troops are being held back from the centre by roadside bombs and booby-trapped cars.Tikrit was the hometown of ousted former leader Saddam Hussein.Anti-government Sunnis loyal to Saddam’s Baath party collaborated with the militants when they overran a huge swathe of Iraq, including Tikrit, last June.The large role of Iranian-backed Shia fighters in the battle for Tikrit has raised fears of reprisals against the mainly Sunni population.US officials are said to be concerned at reports that Shia militias have been setting fire to buildings as they advance.Meanwhile, Frustrated by guerrilla tactics from Islamic State militants, Iraqi forces paused for reinforcements on Friday in a major offensive to take back the city of Tikrit.The operation appeared to have stalled for the time being, two days after Iraqi security forces and their mainly Shi’ite militia allies pushed into Tikrit, the home city of executed ex-president Saddam Hussein.A source in the military command said Iraqi forces would not move forward until reinforcements reached Tikrit, of which Islamic State still holds around half. If government forces wrest full control, it will be the first time they have won back a city from Islamic State since it over-ran large areas of the country last year and declared an Islamic caliphate in territory it is holding in Iraq and Syria.From there it has spread fear across the region by beheading Arab and Western hostages and killing or kidnapping members of religious minorities like Yazidis and Christians.In Tikrit, the militants have deployed snipers and turned streets into a labyrinth of home-made bombs and booby-trapped buildings.Forces loyal to powerful Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and known as the ‘Peace Brigades’ appeared to be positioning themselves to join the government offensive. Up to 1,500 fighters had reached the sacred Shi’ite city of Samarra, south of Tikrit, a source in Sadr’s provincial office told Reuters.The deployment came days after Sadr announced the “unfreezing” of his forces’ participation in battles against the militants. He had suspended their actions after allegations of abuses committed by other Shi’ite militias during recent operations.One official said he was told that the Peace Brigade fighters intend to push north toward Tikrit on Saturday.Hadi al-Amiri, the head of the Shi’ite paramilitary Badr Organization and now one of the most powerful men in Iraq, said the outcome of the battle for Tikrit was in no doubt, but Iraqi forces needed time.”We are not in a hurry, but we have a plan and we are following it,” Amiri told state television from the frontline. “Even if the battle drags on for two, three or four days that is okay. We will celebrate the liberation of Tikrit from the enemy.”
