BAGHDAD: Skirmishes broke out Tuesday between Iraqi security forces and militants on the outskirts of Tikrit, a local official and a resident said, a day after the Iraqi and Kurdish troops backed by US airstrikes dislodged militants from a strategic dam in the country’s north.

The clashes began on the southwestern outskirts of the militant-held city of Tikrit, located about 130 kilometers north of the capital, when a military convoy was traveling along the main highway that links Baghdad with the northern provinces, they said.

The Iraqi military shelled militant positions inside and outside the city, they said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing their safety. Militants from Islamic State group have occupied Tikrit and the northern city of Mosul since early June, as well as large parts of the country’s north and west. The militant onslaught has plunged Iraq into its worst crisis since the withdrawal of US troops in 2011.

The group since has imposed a self-styled caliphate in territory it controls in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Sporadic clashes have been reported around Tikrit and other areas since then, but efforts by Iraqi government forces and allied Sunni tribal militiamen have failed to push out the militants. Earlier this month, the tomb of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein located near Tikrit was damaged in clashes between security forces and the radical group.

Iraqi army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Qassim Al-Moussawi, said Tuesday that a “slow and gradual” push to retake areas around Tikrit is underway, an effort he described as “biting back the land.” Al-Moussawi said security forces dismantled more than 40 bombs in the area.