Surveillance flights over Tikrit begin

TIKRIT, Iraq, March 24 (UPI) -- Surveillance flights over the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit, Iraq, by the U.S.-led coalition have begun, a senior official said Tuesday. The flights, which began Saturday, are providing intelligence information to Iraqi forces, supported by Iranian advisors. The official said the coalition's involvement in the offensive was undertaken at the request of the Iraqi government. A Pentagon spokesman said the Tikrit assault has "stalled" in the past two weeks, with Islamic State (IS) forces "dug in" at the city's center.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren declined to explain if coalition forces were communicating with the Iraqi and Iranian troops on the ground, or if the flights will include airstrikes, except to say, "We are conducting no military coordination with the Iranians."

The operation to dislodge the IS from Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad and Saddam Hussein's hometown, began in early March, with 20,000 soldiers, police and Shia militia members attacking from all sides. The advancing army made rapid strides amid heavy casualties, but has slowed; several hundred IS militants remain in control of Tikrit's downtown area.

"The enemy is dug in there," Warren said, with "fairly hardened and sophisticated defenses."

Retaking Tikrit, which is on the road between Baghdad and Mosul, Iraq's largest cities, is crucial if it is to be used as a supply link for any upcoming assault on Mosul, also in IS hands.