Insurgents brought down an army helicopter over the northern city of Tikrit on Sunday as the military sent in tanks to try to dislodge them on second day of a major pushback against a Sunni militant takeover of large stretches of Iraq.
In Baghdad, threatened by the rebel advance, top Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers scrambled to agree cabinet nominations before parliament meets on Tuesday to try to prevent the rebel advance threatening Iraq's future as a unitary state.
They are racing against time as Sunni insurgents led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an al Qaeda offshoot that loathes Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government, consolidate their grip on the north and west.
Maliki's political future will be the most contentious issue.
Troops backed by helicopter gunships began the assault on Tikrit, the birthplace of former President Saddam Hussein, on Saturday, to try to take it back from insurgents who have swept to within driving range of Baghdad.
The army sent in tanks and helicopters to battle ISIL militants near the University of Tikrit in the city's north on Sunday, security sources said. Two witnesses said they saw a military helicopter gunned down and crash near a market.
Iraqi army spokesman Qassim Atta told reporters in Baghdad security forces had killed 142 "terrorists" over the last 24 hours across Iraq, including 70 in Tikrit, and said the armed forces were in control of Tikrit's university. Both claims were impossible to immediately verify.
"Our security forces have taken complete control of the University of Tikrit and they have raised the Iraqi flag on top of the building," Atta said.
The offensive was the first major attempt by the army to retake territory after the United States sent up to 300 advisers, mostly special forces, and drones to help the government take on ISIL.
Earlier on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani, one of
Iraq's most senior politicians, faulted the U.S. for not doing enough to bolster the country's military.
"Yes, there has been a delay from the Americans in handing over the contracted arms. We told them, 'You once did an air bridge to send arms to your ally Israel, so why don't you give us the contracted arms in time?'" he told al-Hurra television.
U.S. officials have disputed similar statements from Iraqi officials in the past and say they have done everything possible to ensure the country is equipped with modern weaponry.
In a sign of Iraq's attempts to bolster its lacklustre air force, five Russian Sukhoi jets were delivered to Baghdad late on Saturday, which state television said "would be used in the coming days to strike ISIL terrorist groups".
A Reuters photographer saw the jets unloaded from a transport plane at a military airport in Baghdad as Russian and Iraqi soldiers stood on the tarmac. Iraq has relied largely on helicopters to counter militants and has few aircraft that can fire advanced missiles.
REUTERS