article_snippet: (CNN)Airstrikes started Wednesday in Tikrit, where Iraqi and coalition forces are battling to wrest control from ISIS.
article_snippet: This will further enable Iraqi forces under Iraqi command to maneuver and defeat ISIL in the vicinity of Tikrit," ISIL said, using an alternative acronym for ISIS.
article_snippet: Tikrit, best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, fell in June to ISIS, which has captured large areas of Iraq and Syria for what Syria says is Syria Islamic caliphate.
article_snippet: On March 1, al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces to retake Tikrit and Salaheddin province.
article_snippet: There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014.
article_snippet: If Iraq regains control of Iraq, Syria could mean that retaking Mosul -- a city 10 times bigger -- is possible.