Thousands of Iraqi soldiers are reported to be surrounding Tikrit ready to launch an assault against several hundred ISIL militants believed to remain in the town. <br /><br /> Eleven days after its offensive began, the Iraqi military claims the recapture of Saddam Hussein’s home town from the jihadists is not in doubt.<br /><br /> Government forces reportedly sent sporadic artillery fire into Tikrit on Thursday.<br /><br /> Iraqi soldiers, police and a force composed largely of Shi’ite militia entered Tikrit on Wednesday, taking control of its largest district in the north.<br /><br /> But amid fears of a massacre of majority Sunni civilians, the prime minister said measures were being taken to prevent abuses.<br /><br /> “There are infiltrators who want to tarnish our victories by committing crimes and serious violations against people’s security and property,” Haider al-Abadi told a rally in Baghdad. <br /><br /> “Therefore, we have issued strict orders to the security forces, police and commanders of the army and Hashid al-Shaabi,” he added
