Tikrit, Iraq (CNN)ISIS is gone, but the fear remains.
As
Iraqi forces, aided by Shiite militiamen, took control Wednesday of the
northern city of Tikrit, they found vehicles laden with explosives and
buildings that might be booby-trapped.
CNN
senior international correspondent Arwa Damon, who was in Tikrit on
Tuesday, saw a large mechanical digger packed with explosives that Iraqi
forces had to disarm. The troops, she said, were cautious when they
entered buildings in case they were wired to explode. Plumes of smoke
rose from burning buildings in the background.
Near
former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces compound --
Tikrit is Hussein's birthplace -- the CNN team also saw a destroyed
truck with a large machine gun mounted on the back. Iraqi forces said
they had fired an RPG at the truck, killing three ISIS fighters. ISIS
was ejected from the palaces compound in fierce fighting, they said,
adding that there may still be booby traps.
Federal
police said they dismantled hundreds of IEDs (improvised explosive
devices) Wednesday. CNN heard at least 16 explosions, some very loud,
which police said were controlled.
The
potential booby traps were political as well as physical. Officials are
concerned about the behavior of the conquerors, particularly the
Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen who helped Iraqi troops. Officials fear
the militiamen might take "scorched earth" reprisals for the reported
massacre of Shiite air force cadets by ISIS fighters in Tikrit last
year.
Much of the population of Tikrit
is, like ISIS, Sunni Muslim. And officials fear that reprisals by Shiite
militias against the Sunni population could stoke local anger,
jeopardizing the government's ability to hold onto Tikrit and pull the
country together. Sectarian resentment helped fuel the rise of ISIS in
the first place.
A significant victory
Still,
the liberation of Tikrit from the terrorist group, which is also known
as ISIL and calls itself the Islamic State, represented a significant
victory for the Iraqi government, which had tried -- and failed -- to
retake the city many times before.
Iraqi
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived Wednesday to claim the victory,
which took place a year after the city was first attacked by ISIS.
Al-Abadi, who is also Iraq's
top military commander, had announced the previous evening on Iraqiya
TV that the city was under the control of Iraqi forces.

The ISIS terror threat 53 photos
Iraqi
forces continued to clean out pockets of resistance Wednesday, said
Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban, who was also in the city. But he
said the Iraqi government would be in full control shortly.
"The
enemy has been defeated, and it has lost all its capabilities,"
al-Ghabban said. "In the coming hours, the battle will end."
Iraqi security said that the few ISIS militants left in the city are hiding inside houses hoping to escape in the dark.
ISIS'
nine-month dominion over Tikrit was marked by brutality. In addition to
the reported massacre of the 1,500-plus air force cadets at Camp
Speicher in June, ISIS is believed to have buried victims in mass graves
and to have destroyed an Assyrian church that had graced Tikrit since
the eighth century.
Tactics to be replicated in other cities
The
push into Tikrit came days after U.S.-led airstrikes targeted ISIS
bases around the city. Al-Abadi said those tactics would now be
replicated in other areas.
Brett
McGurk, the U.S. deputy special presidential envoy to the Global
Coalition to Counter ISIL, tweeted that the coalition's airstrikes had
destroyed numerous ISIS shelters.
"We
will continue to support courageous Iraqi forces operating under Iraqi
command as they work to reclaim their territory from #ISIL," McGurk
tweeted.
The key to victory in Tikrit
this time, the Prime Minister said, was surprise. But help from the
coalition of Shiite militiamen and volunteers also played a part.
The militia members, estimated to number around 20,000, are backed by Iran. The offensive marked the first open participation of Iranian advisers on the front lines in Iraq.
The
victory in Tikrit sets the stage for Iraqi forces to take back an even
bigger prize -- Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. A U.S. official said
in February that up to 25,000 Iraqi troops plan to return to Mosul in
April or May in an effort to retake the city.
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