Tikrit, Iraq--Exploding bombs send clouds of dust rising into the air over the Iraqi city of Tikrit, houses and businesses burn and civilians are nowhere in sight.
Iraqi forces have retaken Tikrit from the Islamic State (IS) group after a month-long operation, but the task of returning some semblance of normal life to the city will take far longer.
Bombs left by the jihadists are the biggest threat, with Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghaban saying 185 explosives-rigged houses and some 900 other bombs had been found as of Wednesday.
Military engineering teams would "clean these areas and clear them of bombs," he said, but there are concerns that there are not enough specialised personnel to handle the large quantity of booby traps left by IS.
Some are turning to less sophisticated bomb disposal methods, with one militiaman suggesting that burning houses was a means of detonating explosives within.
A militiamen also fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a parked car he said he suspected of being a car bomb.
Even if such methods do remove explosives, they also cause damage to property that will anger residents and undermine long-term stability in Tikrit.
Looting and vandalism are also an issue.
Pro-government militiamen quickly set about spray-painting the names of their groups on homes and businesses in the city, in some cases marring windows that had survived the fighting unbroken.
They also stole items including clothing and toiletries from shops in central Tikrit, and a camouflage-uniformed man drove a truck full of brand-new tyres and a generator out of the city.
AFP
