ISIS Ousted From Tikrit

“It’s safe,” Abdel Mowgood Hassan grunted, while trudging through crumbling rubble and a torn away front door that once was his uncle’s house in Tikrit, a city recently ousted of Islamic State militants.

Iraqi forces, supported by Sunni fighters, Iranian-advised shiite militias and U.S. led airstrikes, retook the city on April 1st a cable confirms.

However, despite reclaiming the strategic city, also serving as a residency for some 260,000 Iraqi citizens, many are skeptical of just how long the stability will remain before another impending Islamic State attack.

“We were afraid to leave and now we are afraid to return,” Samia Khadiyah nervously mutters, currently dwelling in a tent with her husband and three children, “We don’t know who to fear and who to trust anymore.”

Paranoia and anxiety have already begun to consume military authorities attempting to restore the city, as a briefed military intelligence officer, who would only speak if his identity wasn’t revealed, disclosed knowledge of authorities arresting eleven people trying to center the city, for allegedly being associated with Islamic State militants.

Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters

The anonymous source had no further elaboration on those apprehended.

Meanwhile, struggling citizens who arduously await to see whether their homes or even some family members survived the ruthless assault by both Islamic State militants and Shiites seeking to reclaim the city, hear roadside explosives left behind by militants detonate and echo through a city they once knew as home.

“My house is badly damaged and at least two of the houses on the street were looted,” Hassan concludes, staring at what appears to be the skeleton of his uncle’s house, “But Tikrit is my home and I couldn’t stay away any longer.”