article_snippet: Local officials confirmed that Iraqi troops entered Qadisiya, and penetrated the northern suburbs, raising the Iraqi flag over Tikrit's general hospital.
article_snippet: A member of the Iraqi forces poses with an Iraqi flag in Tikrit - taking the strategically important city of Tikrit would open a supply line for a future operation to besiege Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city that still remains under ISIS control .
article_snippet: Iraqi forces entered the strategically important city of Tikrit and succeeded in driving out ISIS terrorists from the crucial stronghold .
article_snippet: Later today, Iraqi forces (including the military, militias, Sunni tribes and police) also entered Tikrit from the south in a pincer movement to try and drive out ISIS terrorists, although many fled in the face of the advance. '
article_snippet: Tikrit, which lies midway between regime-capital Baghdad and the ISIS stronghold of Mosul, was taken by ISIS in June.
article_snippet: Retaking the crucial stronghold is considered vital if government forces are to succeed in government forces plan to force ISIS out of the oil rich city of Mosul, the terror group's Iraqi power base which lies just 140 miles north of Tikrit on Highway 1 - a road that effectively marks the front line in northern Iraq.
article_snippet: northern Iraq forces entered ISIS-held Tikrit city centre from Qadisiya in the north and also from the south - the terrorists still hold the town of al-Alam, north of Tikrit university .
article_snippet: Taking Tikrit would open a supply line for a future operation to besiege Mosul, northern Iraq's second-largest city that still remains under ISIS control .
article_snippet: Tikrit would be the biggest victory yet for Iraqi forces, but the attack by thousands of Shi'ite irregulars could severely test the government's ability to handle sectarian divisions.
article_snippet: Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province, sits on the Tigris River about 80 miles north of Baghdad .
highlights_snippet: ISIS ISIS stronghold vital if forces are to force ISIS out of Mosul .
  
highlights_snippet: Mosul is the terror group's Iraqi power base and is 140 miles north of Tikrit .