The U.S.-led coalition is planning to carry out airstrikes in support of Iraqi operations against Islamic State in the city of Tikrit, a U.S. official said on Wednesday, confirming comments by Iraq's president in an interview with Reuters.
The U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, declined to discuss the timing of any strikes.
The coalition had long been absent from the campaign in Tikrit, the largest undertaken by Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militia groups since Islamic State militants overran a third of the country last year.