TOPSHOTS Iraqi Shiite fighters of the government-controlled Popular Mobilisation units stand at the site of a car bomb that targeted pro-government forces on March 12, 2015 in a western outskirt of the city of Tikrit during a military operation to retake the city from the Islamic state (IS) group. Thousands of Iraqi troops and militiamen laid siege to jihadist fighters holed up in Tikrit, wary of rushing into streets littered with bombs and infested with snipers. Tikrit, the capital Salaheddin province, is located 160 kms north of Baghdad. AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE