article_snippet.sent: Tikrit, Iraq (CNN)ISIS is gone, but the fear remains.
article_snippet.sent: As Iraqi forces, aided by Shiite militiamen, took control Wednesday of the northern city of Tikrit, Iraqi forces, aided by Shiite militiamen, took control Wednesday of the northern city of Tikrit found vehicles laden with explosives and buildings that might be booby-trapped.
article_snippet.sent: CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon, who was in Tikrit on Tuesday, saw a large mechanical digger packed with explosives that Iraqi forces had to disarm.
article_snippet.sent: Near former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces compound -- Tikrit is Hussein's birthplace -- the CNN team also saw a destroyed truck with a large machine gun mounted on the back.
article_snippet.sent: Much of the population of Tikrit is, like ISIS, Sunni Muslim.
article_snippet.sent: Still, the liberation of Tikrit from the terrorist group, which is also known as ISIL and calls the city the Islamic State, represented a significant victory for the Iraqi government, which had tried -- and failed -- to retake the city many times before.
article_snippet.sent: ISIS nine-month dominion over Tikrit was marked by brutality.
article_snippet.sent: In addition to the reported massacre of the 1,500-plus air force cadets at Camp Speicher in June, ISIS is believed to have buried victims in mass graves and to have destroyed an Assyrian church that had graced Tikrit since the eighth century.
article_snippet.sent: The push into Tikrit came days after U.S.-led airstrikes targeted ISIS bases around the city.
article_snippet.sent: The key to victory in Tikrit this time, the Prime Minister said, was surprise.
article_snippet.sent: The victory in Tikrit sets the stage for Iraqi forces to take back an even bigger prize -- Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
article_snippet.sent: Arwa Damon and Hamdi Alkhshali reported from Tikrit and Jomana Karadsheh from Baghdad.
highlights_snippet.sent: Tikrit is under the control of Iraqi forces, Iraqi Prime Minister says .
  