Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — The Iraq Army has launched a third campaign to capture a key northern city.

The Army deployed several thousand soldiers and Shi’ite volunteers in an operation to drive out Islamic State of Iraq and Levant from Tikrit. On Aug. 19, the Army, directed by U.S. military advisers, attacked Tikrit from three directions and claimed to have captured a large portion of the Sunni city.

But by the end of the day, the troops were said to have withdrawn amid heavy ISIL resistance.

“The security forces started today a massive military operation to liberate the city of Tikrit, located in the center of Salah Eddin province, from ISIL,” a government statement said.

The statement on Aug. 19 said Army and special forces units reached Tikrit from the west and south. The assault was said to have been coordinated with the Iraq Air Force, which struck ISIL targets.

This marked the third major attempt by the Baghdad government to capture Tikrit, lost to ISIL on June 10. During the last attempt in July, thousands of soldiers fled Tikrit within a day.

Officials said the Army reached downtown Tikrit and took control of the Shishin district and headed toward Qadasiya. They said ISIL responded with heavy mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire as well as suicide car bombings.

“The security forces controls the Ouja area where the Air Force is targeting the ISIL terrorists,” Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta said. “All the ISIL leaders escaped from Tikrit.”

Later, however, security sources acknowledged that ISIL resistance, which included the mining of major roads, blocked the Army’s advance in Tikrit. They said the Army began to withdraw from the city.

“There are still a lot of challenges and difficulties ahead of us,” Iraq Army spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim Mussawi, who did not confirm the withdrawal, said in a televised briefing.

The Tikrit operation reflected an intensified role by the air force. The Air Force was said to have conducted daily sorties on ISIL strongholds throughout such provinces as Anbar, Babil and Nineveh.

The Iraqi military effort has been bolstered by the U.S. Air Force, said to have focused operations on Irbil, Faluja, Irbil and Mosul. The U.S. military reported 35 sorties against ISIL positions around the Mosul dam.

“In all, we destroyed over 90 targets including a range of vehicles, equipment, and fighting positions,” U.S. Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said on Aug. 18. “Iraqi forces have cleared the dam and are working to further expand their area of control.”

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