TOPSHOTS Members of Iraq's government forces gesture next to the coffin of a comrade who was killed in fighting with the Islamic State group (IS) in the city of Tikrit, during a funeral ceremony in Iraq's central city of Najaf on March 5, 2015. Concern mounted over the fate of civilians in Tikrit where Iraqi forces were trying to trap Islamic State group jihadists on the third day of a huge offensive to retake the city. Around 30,000 security forces and allied fighters launched Monday the biggest anti-IS ground operation yet in Iraq, closing in on Tikrit from at least three directions. AFP PHOTO / HAIDAR HAMDANI