epa04647188 A picture made available 04 March 2015, shows an Iraqi soldier posing with a sniper rifle at a military barracks near Tikrit, Iraq 03 March 2015. Three days after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced 01 March in Samara the security operation to liberate the rest of the areas in Salahuddin Province from the group calling themselves the Islamic State (IS) who have occupied them since summer 2014, Iraqi security forces supported by militias and tribal fighters launched 02 March what they said was a major offensive aimed at recapturing the city of Tikrit and other areas north of Baghdad from IS. EPA/STR