Official: 90% of displaced residents have returned to Tikrit’s Alam

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The director of Tikrit’s Alam district in Salahadin province, Abdulla Sabah, told Rudaw on Thursday that 90 percent of refugees and displaced families from the district have returned home.

“After pushing out ISIS from the districts inside Salahadin province, we managed to clear the area from mines and explosives. This encouraged the refugees to return back,” Sabah said.

In March, Iraqi security forces were able to retake control of Tikrit, a city located northwest of Baghdad, after it was seized by ISIS fighters.

The oil-rich city of Baiji north of Tikrit is still a center of fierce fighting.