Iraqi security forces launched a massive military offensive Monday in an attempt to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, from the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

The launching of a large-scale military operation happened at the same time that IS militants executed 32 security members in Iraq's western province of Anbar.

Like Us on Facebook

The military operation launched by the Iraqi security forces was backed by allied Shiite, Sunni and Iranian fighters but the military said it still had not entered Tikrit hours into the operation.

"The operation is going on as planned but until this moment we have not enter the city," said the military commander of Salahuddin region, Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi.

It was not disclosed if the US military forces are joining the operation but US military officials earlier said it will join in the coordinated military mission to retake Mosul in April or May.

While past attempts to retake Tikrit from the IS militants have fallen, analysts now believe the latest operation stands a big chance of a success, especially now that Iranian Gen. Ghasem Soleimani is on the ground with the elite Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force.

United Nations special envoy in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, urged the two warring groups to avoid attacking civilians.

"Military operations reinforced by international and Iraqi air support must be conducted with the utmost care to avoid civilian casualties, and with full respect for fundamental human rights principles and humanitarian law," Mladenov said in a statement.

Also on Monday, IS militants shot dead 32 young men in Jubba area, just near the town of al-Baghdadi, some 200 km northwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Xinhua news agency reported.

The executed were believed to be local policemen and members of the government-backed Sahwa paramilitary group. They were captured in a battle with IS militants in Jubba, the source said.

TagsIraq, Tikrit