In Battered Tikrit, Iraqi Forces Claim Much, But Not All Of City
Driving from Baghdad north to Tikrit, we speed up a main road Wednesday through small towns that have been won back from the self-declared Islamic State, or ISIS. Some still have smoking buildings.
On the outskirts we pass through places that have obviously seen heavy fighting. Half-built houses are pocked with bullet holes, their windows shattered.
As we move into Tikrit proper, the excited fighters begin celebrating, Iraqi style, with gunshots into the air. They have reason to celebrate. A hard-fought battle appears to be nearing a conclusion.
But it's still not clear what's coming next.
For a month, Iraqi government troops, Shiite militias backed by Iran, and U.S. airstrikes have pounded ISIS in Tikrit, a Sunni Muslim city where former dictator Saddam Hussein was raised.
Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite militiamen look for Islamic State extremists in Tikrit on Tuesday. Iraqi forces were going house-to-house in search of snipers and booby traps.
The battle for Tikrit is part of the larger effort to move against ISIS in other parts of Iraq, including the big prize of Mosul, farther north.
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared Tuesday that Tikrit had been "liberated," making it the first major city retaken from ISIS since the extremist group swept through northern and western Iraq last year.
But conditions in Tikrit on Wednesday suggest that the prime minister's claim is at least a bit premature.
As we ride through Tikrit, we pass a nicer part of town with villas, though here, too, there are potholes, bullet holes in walls, and collapsed lampposts and cinderblock walls.
We head to a provincial council building, right in the center of Tikrit, which government troops and their allies are very proud of taking. The building is a charred wreck, though the mood is jubilant. Religious leaders are praying; parliament members and Shiite militias are milling around. Rafa Abdullah, a policeman from Tikrit, has just arrived back for the first time in nine months.
Iraqi Shiite fighters flash the victory sign in Tikrit on Wednesday.
"We're happy," he says. "We've been suffering since June and my house was blown up by ISIS."
He expects it will be about 10 days before even parts of the city are habitable. He thinks about half of the infrastructure for electricity and water has been destroyed. But more importantly, parts of the city are still not cleared of ISIS fighters or bombs.
Still, morale is high. Militiaman Riyadh al-Zaidi says he's sure ISIS will be defeated.
"We will smash them under our feet, and even if they have all of the control in the world we are (tough) enough to stop them," he says. "Not just stop them, we will smash them."
There will be challenges. Central Tikrit is a ghost town with no civilians in sight. There are lots of soldiers, graffiti, flags and bullet casings. But it seems that the retaking of the city is not yet complete.
We are surrounded by bursts of celebratory gunfire. There are louder noises in the distance, which Iraqi commanders say are ongoing battles with ISIS fighters. They are still present, houses are still booby-trapped and the roads are still mined. There's still some way to go.
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Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
For a month, a makeshift mix of government forces and Shiite militias, backed by Iran, fought to take back the Iraqi city of Tikrit from the self-declared Islamic State. Control of Tikrit is seen as key to efforts against ISIS in other parts of the country. And now, pro-government forces have won the upper hand. U.S.-launched airstrikes were instrumental in pushing ISIS out, and yesterday, the Iraqi prime minister said the city was liberated. NPR's Alice Fordham was there today, and she reports there is still fighting.
ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: Driving to Tikrit from Baghdad, we speed up a main road through small towns which have been won back from ISIS. Some buildings are still smoldering. But there could still be mines on the main road into Tikrit, so we bump off road as we head into the city center, which was still held by ISIS yesterday.
On the outskirts, we pass through places that have obviously seen heavy fighting.
(SOUNDBITE OF CROWD YELLING)
FORDHAM: And just as we move into Tikrit proper, the excited fighters begin celebrating.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS)
FORDHAM: Celebrating Iraqi style - and they have reason to. A hard-fought battle appears to be nearing a conclusion, but the city is badly damaged. Under the volleys of celebratory gun fire as we ride into Tikrit, we're going past kind of a nice part of town, actually. This is an area where there's villas, and you can see bullet holes on the walls. There's collapsed lampposts and cinderblock walls and potholes in the roads.
We're being taken to see the provincial council building right in the center of Tikrit, which various anti-ISIS fighters are very proud of having taken yesterday. Actually, the building's a charred wreck, but the mood is jubilant. Among the religious leaders praying, parliament members and Shiite militias, I find Rafa Abdullah, a policeman from Tikrit who's just arrived back for the first time in nine months.
RAFA ABDULLAH: (Foreign language spoken).
FORDHAM: "We are happy," he says. "We've been suffering since June, and my house was blown up by ISIS."
ABDULLAH: (Foreign language spoken).
FORDHAM: But he still thinks it'll be about 10 days before the city is at all habitable. He thinks almost half the infrastructure for electricity and water is destroyed. But more importantly, the other side of the city is still not cleared of fighters or bombs. Still, morale is high. I meet a militiaman named Riyadh al-Zaidi who is sure ISIS will be defeated.
RIYADH AL-ZAIDI: We will smash them under our feet. And even if they have all the control of the world and all the support from all the country, we are hard enough to stop them - not just to stop them, we will smash them.
FORDHAM: Standing in central Tikrit, which is a ghost town - there are certainly no civilians back yet - it seems that calling this a liberation is a bit premature. We're surrounded by bursts and celebratory gunfire, but there's louder noises in the distance, which the commanders say are ongoing fights with ISIS fighters.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNFIRE)
FORDHAM: They're still here, so there's some way to go yet. Alice Fordham, NPR News, Tikrit. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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