Iraqi forces and Shiite militiamen may have been able to drive the Islamic State out of Tikrit on Wednesday — but the radical terrorist group has left behind a slew of deadly booby traps inside buildings and vehicles that could still do damage long after they’re gone.
Since the northern Iraq city was officially liberated from ISIS control this week, troops have been spotted disarming several devices that have been carefully placed in public places and wired to explode, CNN reports.
Iraqi forces have been cautiously making their way through buildings in the western end of the city and other areas as they sweep for any potential threats that remain, officials said.
“A rapid advance in a city where the ground is littered with bombs and booby traps is too tough to achieve,” Mayor Osama al-Tikriti explained to Reuters earlier in the week.
The Islamic State’s nine-month reign of terror finally came to an end Wednesday just days after US-led airstrikes targeted the extremists’ bases around the city.
“The enemy has been defeated, and it has lost all its capabilities,” Iraqi Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban explained. “In the coming hours, the battle will end.”
Recapturing Tikrit has been a significant victory for the Iraqi government, which had previously failed in its attempts to retake the city. Troops and militia members will continue to clean out any pockets of resistance that remain in the coming weeks.
Iraqi forces may now have the confidence to set their sights on taking back Mosul — which is Iraq’s second-largest city and has been an ISIS stronghold in recent months.