Iraqi security forces win back Tikrit
• The Iraqi government declared victory in Tikrit on Wednesday over Islamic State of Iraq and alSham extremists and warned the militants holding other Iraqi provinces they would be the next to fall.
Prime Minister Haider alAbadi walked triumphantly along a street in Tikrit, carrying an Iraqi flag and surrounded by jubilant forces.
Across the border in Syria, however, ISIS fighters made their deepest foray yet into the capital, Damascus, by infiltrating a Palestinian refugee camp.
Iraq’s victory in Tikrit is seen as a key step toward driving ISIS out of Mosul, Iraq’s secondlargest city and the Nineveh provincial capital.
Defence Minister Khalid alObeidi announced the victory, saying security forces have “accomplished their mission” in the month-long offensive to rid Saddam Hussein’s hometown and Salahuddin province of ISIS fighters.
“We have the pleasure, with all our pride, to announce the good news of a magnificent victory,” he said in a video statement.
“Here we come to you, Anbar! Here we come to you, Nineveh,” he added, naming the provinces still held by ISIS.
The extremists seized the city last summer during their advance from Syria into northern and western Iraq.
Iraqi forces, including soldiers, police officers, Shiite militias and Sunni tribes, started a large-scale operation to recapture Tikrit at the beginning of March. Last week, the U.S. launched air strikes at the request of the Iraqi government.
Recapturing Tikrit is the biggest win so far for Baghdad’s Shiite-led government. The city is about 130 kilometres north of Baghdad on the road connecting the capital to Mosul. Retaking it will give Iraqi forces a major supply link for operations in the north.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the victory was compelling evidence the U.S. strategy against ISIS was working.
“What is clear is that over the last five days, this strategy of backing up Iraqi security forces that are multi-sectarian in nature with coalition air strikes is a pretty powerful combination,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Iraqi security forces fired on snipers and searched homes for remaining fighters. Soldiers fanned out from the charred, skeletal remains of the Salahuddin provincial government complex, captured Tuesday.
ISIS mortar fire, which had been intense in previous days, fell silent, with commanders saying only a few militant snipers remained.
The objective is to restore normalcy as quickly as possible, said Interior Minister Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban.
“After clearing the area from roadside bombs and car bombs, we will reopen police stations to restore normalcy in the city, and we will form committees to supervise the return of people displaced from their home.
The government will help displaced residents return and a civil defence unit will be combing the city for roadside bombs and car bombs.
“Daesh is completely defeated,” he added, using an Arabic name for the group.
A satellite image of Tikrit, released in February by the United Nations, showed at least 536 buildings affected by the fighting. Of those, at least 137 were destroyed and 241 were severely damaged.
Parliament speaker Salim alJabouri urged the government to find the means to resettle residents whose homes had been destroyed or damaged. He said this “requires effort and support by the central government in order to financially support the people.”
Aziz Jaber, a political sci-
We will reopen police stations to restore normalcy in the city
ence professor at Baghdad’s Mustansiriyah University, said retaking Tikrit could be seen as the “beginning of the end” for ISIS in Iraq.
“Daesh was very talented in psychological warfare, but not any more after its defeat in Tikrit,” he said. “Now, the morale of the Iraqi forces is high, while that of Daesh is low.”
Meanwhile, in Syria, where ISIS controls large parts of the north, its fighters entered the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said gaining full control of the camp could allow ISIS to threaten the heart of Damascus, the seat of President Bashar al-Assad’s power.
The Observatory reported heavy clashes in the camp between ISIS fighters and members of an anti-Assad Palestinian faction, Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis.
Yarmouk has been under government siege for nearly two years. UN aid workers have been sending food parcels to the camp, where thousands of civilians remain trapped and in desperate need of food and medicine.