Iraqi forces hope to liberate the key Sunni city of Tikrit from the Islamic State within the next three days, Agence France-Presse reports, but may have to wait for more reinforcements before making the final push.
A spokesman for the Popular Mobilization units told the French news agency that it would take "72 hours" to drive Islamic State from the city, which is about 80 miles north of Baghdad.
An estimated 60 to 70 ISIL fighters holed up in the center of Tikrit are "surrounded from all sides," said Karim al-Nuri, a leader in the Badr militia.
The once thriving city of 260,000 was the hometown of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Retaking the largely Sunni city is considered a test for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who assumed office in September. He has said that the Islamic State must be stopped "for our own sake."
The city can only be deemed cleared after Iraqi forces have cleared out booby-trapped buildings and roadside explosives and cut a path through the center, al-Nuri told AFP.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Iraqi forces and Shia militia had paused for a second day on Saturday until reinforcements could be brought up.
A source in the local military command center told Reuters that military commanders had "reached a decision to halt the operation until a suitable, carefully set plan is in place" to take the heart of the city.
The source, speaking to Reuters by phone from near Tikrit, said the forces besieging the city needed as many as 2,000 "professional personnel and soldiers" for street-by-street fighting in the heavily mined center.
ISIL forces have occupied Tikrit since last summer until Iraqi army and Shiite forces breached the city on Wednesday.
About 20,000 Shiite militiamen are participating in the operation, as well as a single Iraqi army brigade of 3,000 soldiers, according to U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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