A spokesman for the Iraqi Peace Brigades, the fighting force Loyal to Radical Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, says dozens of its fighters are traveling to help an offensive to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State group. Ali al-Mosawi told The Associated Press on Sunday that the men will travel to the Shiite holy city of Samarra, the launching point for operations to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown. About a dozen heavily armed trucks packed with fighters left Baghdad for Samarra earlier Sunday. An offensive to liberate Tikrit including the Iraqi military, Shiite militias, police ******rs and Sunni tribes has been underway since March 2. Al-Sadr an**unced last month that he would withdraw the Peace Brigades from fighting following accusations that the militias were responsible for battlefield atrocities.