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 The Defense Ministry said ground troops backed by air support
began their offensive at dawn against insurgents, led by the al
Qaeda offshoot the Islamic State, who have held Tikrit since
mid-June.
If the army and its militia allies retake Tikrit, hometown of Saddam
Hussein, it would be the first insurgent-held city to switch back to
government control since Iraq's latest crisis erupted last month.
The offensive took place as Iraq's deeply divided parliament met for
a third session aimed at forming a new government to tackle the
insurgency, three months after the country held a parliamentary
election.
 Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose State of Law group is
the largest individual bloc in parliament, is seeking a third term
but faces opposition from Sunnis and Kurds who say he has ruled for
the Shi'ite majority at the expense of minority communities. Even
rival Shi'ite parties want to unseat him.
Acting speaker Mehdi al-Hafidh called on deputies to cast their
votes for a new speaker, the first of three leadership posts which
need to be decided. Moderate Sunni Islamist politician Salim Jabouri
is front runner for the speaker's role.
The other posts to be decided are the presidency followed by the
prime minister, but it was not immediately clear whether the planned
vote for a new speaker was part of a wider deal to break the
prolonged deadlock.
 The political impasse has been given added urgency by the
Islamist-led insurgency which swept through Sunni provinces of
northern Iraq last month, encouraging Maliki's opponents to try to
force his departure.
ARMY AND MILITIA
Sunni grievances against Maliki have helped the insurgency win
support in the predominantly Sunni provinces to the north and west
of Baghdad where the Islamic State and other militant groups have
taken over.
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Government forces retreated when Sunni insurgents overran Mosul on
June 10 and swept south to seize Tikrit, 100 miles (160 km) north of
Baghdad, two days later. The city is a stronghold of Saddam
loyalists and ex-army officers who joined forces with the Islamic
State assault.An officer taking part in Tuesday's attack said
uniformed volunteer fighters and militia forces, including the
Shi'ite Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, were fighting alongside the army, but
following orders from their own militia and volunteer commanders.
The assault was launched from the village of Awja, some 8 km (5
miles) south of the city. The army retook Awja, the birthplace of
Saddam, on the night of July 3, and has been trying to push north
since.
The initial fighting on Tuesday focused around the Shishin district
of south Tikrit, the officer and another soldier said, adding that
the army was also heading towards Saddam's former presidential
palace compounds, where Islamic State fighters had held captives and
run their Islamic court trials.
Soldiers were also fighting to take Tikrit hospital which lies on a
strategic area of high ground in the city.
Across the Tigris River to the east, the army landed paratroopers in
Albu Ajeel where Iraqiya state television said some of the
insurgents had fled. One army officer in the fighting said they were
surprised the resistance they experienced was less fierce than
expected.
(Additional reporting by a correspondent in Salahuddin province and
by Maggie Fick in Baghdad; Writing by Dominic Evans; editing by
Janet McBride)
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