The Iraqi forces have hoisted their flag on top of the Governorate Building
On the 31st of March, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that Iraqi forces have finally taken over the city of Tikrit.
The Iraqi forces have hoisted their flag on top of the Governorate Building, but fighting still continues in small areas. Shiite militias and Iraqi soldiers are clearing the remaining zones.
ISIS had been in control of Tikrit since June of last year, but thanks to a sequence of U.S. air strikes combined with the Iraqi and Shiite forces on the ground, the liberation was made possible.
According to CNN, the ground troops found dozens of booby-trapped buildings and roadside bombs as they entered the city.
The success of the Tikrit experiment will be repeated in other areas because of the results it has achieved on the battlefield, on a humanitarian level, protecting civilians as much as possible, in addition to the low casualties amongst our security forces. We managed to take (ISIS) by surprise. And our air force … in addition to coalition air force, helping Iraqi forces, managed to deal severe blows to ISIS and the enemies of Iraq. And our ground forces with the blood of Iraqis, Iraqis alone with their own blood, were able to liberate this land
Haider al-Abadi
prime-minister
O.C.