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The offensive to retake Tikrit appeared to stall Friday, two days after Iraqi security forces and mainly Shiite militia pushed into Saddam Hussein's home city in their biggest offensive yet against the militants, Reuters reported.

A source in the Salahuddin Operations Command said Iraqi forces would not move forward until reinforcements reached Tikrit, of which ISIS still holds around half.

Using guerrilla warfare tactics, the militants have turned the city into a labyrinth of home-made bombs and booby-trapped buildings, and are using snipers to halt their progress.

Hadi al-Amiri, the head of the Shiite paramilitary Badr Organization and now one of the most powerful men in Iraq said the outcome of the battle for Tikrit was in no doubt, but Iraqi forces needed time.

"We are not in a hurry, but we have a plan and we are following it," Amiri told Iraqi state television from the Tikrit frontline. "Even if the battle drags on for two, three or four days that is okay. We will celebrate the liberation of Tikrit from the enemy."