Tikrit operations cause 28,000 to flee: UN

BAGHDAD - Agence France-Presse

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Military operations aimed at retaking the Iraqi city of Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group have caused around 28,000 people to flee their homes, the United Nations said on March 5.
      
"Military operations in and around Tikrit have precipitated displacement of an estimated 28,000 people to Samarra," a UN statement said.
      
"Field reports indicate that additional displacements are underway and that yet more families remain stuck at checkpoints," it said.
      
Some 30,000 Iraqi security forces members and allied fighters launched an operation to retake Tikrit on Monday, the largest of its kind since ISIL group forces overran swathes of territory last June.
      
Retaking Tikrit, the hometown of now-executed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, from militants who have had over eight months to dig in poses a major challenge for the country's forces.
      
Sectarian-fuelled revenge killings targeting Sunni Arabs have been a feature of past operations involving Shiite militias, raising concerns that the same may happen in Tikrit.