BAGHDAD — Iraq's Interior Minister says military operations to recapture Tikrit, the city held by the self-proclaimed Islamic State group, have temporarily paused to allow civilians left in Saddam Hussein's hometown to leave.

 

Mohammed Salem Al-Ghabban says the offensive, which began early this month, has achieved 90 percent of its objectives and has squeezed the militants into a small part of the city center.

 

He says IS militants have booby-trapped buildings in central Tikrit and that Iraqi forces, backed by Shiite militias and Iranian advisers, slowed their push to reduce their own causalities, protect the infrastructure and allow residents to leave.

 

The minister spoke on Monday from the nearby city of Samarra.

 

He did not give a timeframe for the resumption of operations, saying that is being "left to the field commanders."

 

But senior Iraqi officials said on Monday that Iraq needs more airstrikes to dislodge IS militants from Tikrit.

 

Government forces are in control of the northern Qadisiya district as well as the southern and western outskirts of the city, trapping the militants in an area bounded by the river that runs through Tikrit.

 

“We need air support from any force that can work with us against IS,” Deputy Minister of Defense Ibrahim Al-Ilami told Reuters, declining to say whether he meant from the US-led coalition or Iran, which is playing a role in the assault.

 

The US-led coalition has been conspicuously absent from the offensive, the biggest to be undertaken by Iraqi forces since IS overran around a third of the country last summer including Tikrit.

 

More than 20,000 troops and Iranian-backed Shiite militia are taking part in the operation, which began two weeks ago, supported by a contingent of Sunni fighters from the area.

 

“We have been saying we need more air support for all of the operations,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman Raid Jubbouri told Reuters. 

“We welcome air support for all our campaigns against IS.” — Agencies