TIKRIT: Iraq vowed on Wednesday to reclaim the entire country from jihadists after retaking the city of Tikrit in its biggest success yet in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Speaking from a newly-recaptured area of central Tikrit after a month-long operation, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the government was “determined to liberate every inch of Iraqi land”. But Tikrit is far from secure, with various officials saying that IS militants were still present in the city, while bomb-rigged houses and buildings also pose a major threat.

Take a look: Iraqi forces tighten noose around IS in Tikrit

Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghaban told journalists in Tikrit that there were “a few pockets (of IS fighters) remaining in some of the neighbourhoods”.

And a commander from the Ketaeb Imam Ali militia, one of the paramilitary forces fighting alongside police and soldiers, reported clashes with IS in the city’s north in the morning.

They “tried to advance on the university”, Rasul al-Abadi said, adding that there were “no more than 30” IS fighters left in the city’s large Qadisiya district.

Ghaban said IS fighters were trying to cross the Tigris river, east of the city, to escape.

Supporting that assertion, a paramilitary commander said the jihadists launched an attack on Wednesday from a mountain hideout northeast of Tikrit in an attempt to open a safe passage for fleeing militants.

There has been concern that Iraq does not have enough specialised ordnance clearance teams to handle the large quantity of traps left by IS fighters.

EXPLOSIONS, LOOTING: Ghaban said that security forces had so far found 185 rigged houses and around 900 other bombs.

Exploding bombs periodically sent clouds of dust rising over Tikrit on Wednesday, apparently detonated intentionally by forces working to clear the city.

Columns of black smoke also rose from various burning houses and businesses.

Some of the dozens of palaces in former dictator Saddam Hussein’s massive complex on the eastern side of the city were smashed by shelling or air strikes, but other areas of Tikrit were comparatively lightly damaged.

Militiamen have quickly set about spray painting the names of their groups on walls and windows, and also stole items including clothes, shampoo and shaving cream from shops in central Tikrit.

There is still evidence of IS’s almost 10-month presence in the city, including the group’s black flag painted on walls and writing identifying some buildings as “properties” of the jihadists’ self-declared state.

On Tuesday, Abadi claimed the city was retaken but the US-led coalition supporting Baghdad from the air said IS still held parts of Tikrit.

Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi vowed on Wednesday to press on with offensive operations.

“We are coming, Anbar. We are coming, Nineveh,” he said in a recorded address, referring to the last two provinces still largely controled by IS.

The loss of Tikrit further isolates Mosul, the capital of Nineveh and the main IS hub in Iraq, with Baghdad’s forces now poised to push north while Kurdish forces close in from the three other directions.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2015

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