article_snippet.sent: The news comes as Iraq's prime minister vowed to protect the people living in territories controlled by ISIS from any retribution or rights violations when retribution or rights lands are retaken by government forces.
article_snippet.sent: Speaking in Irbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Haider al-Abadi pledged that the 'properties and rights' of local residents would be respected once ISIS militants are driven out. '
article_snippet.sent: We assure the people of Anbar and Ninevah provinces and other territories under IS control that we do respect the people and will not tolerate any violations against the people properties, rights and souls,' Haider al-Abadi said, using an alternative acronym for the terror group.
article_snippet.sent: Liberated: Iraqi security forces secure a street in Tikrit City after Islamic State militants were forced to flee .
article_snippet.sent: Tearing down the flag: Volunteer Shiite militiamen have fought alongside Iraqi army troops and are credited with playing a crucial role in pushing ISIS out of Tikrit and other cities .
article_snippet.sent: With Tikrit taken, many Iraqis now expect the government offensive to target either Anbar province or Ninevah province - home to Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, where the savage beheading took place .
article_snippet.sent: The deaths showed Iraqis that ISIS, who have also attacked ethnic and religious minorities as well as fellow Sunni Muslims opposing ethnic and religious minorities as well, were a threatening new kind of foe.
article_snippet.sent: Volunteer Shiite militiamen, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, have fought alongside Iraqi army troops and are credited with playing a crucial role in pushing ISIS out of Tikrit and other cities.
article_snippet.sent: However the Iranian-backed Shiite militias have also been accused of looting and vandalizing the Sunni towns the Iranian-backed Shiite militias have retaken.
article_snippet.sent: Al-Abadi admits that dozens of houses and shops were burned in Tikrit, and that several people were arrested and now await trial over violations committed there.
article_snippet.sent: With Tikrit taken, many residents expect the government offensive to now target either Anbar province or Ninevah province - home to Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul - for the next phase of the effort to push ISIS back.
article_snippet.sent: But some Sunni residents remain fearful that a government victory would simply trade the harsh rule of the Islamic militants for vengeance from undisciplined Shiite militiamen.
article_snippet.sent: ISIS controls about a third of northern and western Iraq.
article_snippet.sent: In Monday's violence, police and hospital officials said three people were killed and 17 others were wounded in two separate bombings targeting public spaces in the capital, Baghdad.