By Isra'a al-Rubei'i and Maggie Fick BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The Iraqi army retook Saddam Hussein's home village overnight, a symbolic victory in its struggle to seize back swathes of the country from Sunni insurgents. Awja lies 8 km (5 miles) south of Tikrit, a city that remains in rebel hands since Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), launched a lightning assault across northern Iraq last month. The offensive to retake Tikrit began on June 28, but the army has still failed to retake the city which fell after the police and army imploded last month in the face of the militant onslaught that also captured Mosul and other major Sunni areas.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-army-retakes-saddam-husseins-home-village-islamist-100125978.html