BAGHDAD — The Iraqi military, alongside thousands of Shiite militia fighters, began a large-scale offensive on Monday to retake the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State, a battle that could either deepen the country’s bloody sectarian divide or become a pivotal fight in the campaign to reclaim north and west Iraq.
Iraqi state television announced the beginning of the offensive Monday morning, a day after Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi prime minister, visited the forces massed on Tikrit’s outskirts and delivered a speech in which he said “zero hour” for the liberation of Tikrit was at hand.
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Omar al-Jawoshy reported from Baghdad, and Tim Arango from Istanbul. Falih Hassan and Ahmed Saleh contributed reporting from Baghdad.
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