[NBCNEWS] Iraq's army and Shi'ite militia have launched a long-awaited offensive against ISIS in Salahuddin province, a stronghold of the radical Islamist fighters north of Baghdad, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Sunday.The ultra-radical fighters control several strongholds in the mainly Sunni Moslem province of Salahuddin, including Tikrit, hometown of executed former president Saddam Hussein. They also hold other towns on the Tigris river north of the government-held city of Samarra, which Abadi visited on Sunday.
"The prime minister and armed forces chief ... announce the start of the security campaign to liberate Salahuddin," a statement issued by Abadi's office said as he met military leaders in the province, where thousands of troops and militia have gathered for battle.
In comments broadcast on Iraqi television, Abadi said the Islamist Lions of Islam would be pushed out of all of Salahuddin and offered their supporters a final opportunity to hand themselves in. "I call upon all those who have been deluded and made mistakes in past to lay down arms today," he said. "This is their last chance. If they insist on staying on their wrong path they will receive the fair punishment they deserve because they ... stood with terrorism."