Tikrit's civilians suffer as Islamic State group battle rages

Thousands of families have been forced to flee Tikrit, 140km northwest of Baghdad, after the Islamic State group took control of the city in June 2014.

Those who fled the city, the administrative centre of Salah al-Din province, have taken refuge in neighbouring provinces including Kirkuk, Diyala and the autonomous Kurdish region.

As soon as the Islamic State group [IS, formerly known as Isis] entered the city it began oppressing civilians and imposing strict laws with harsh penalties.

The past eight months have been extremely difficult as death has lurked around every corner. - Khudair Abbas, Tikrit resident

"The past eight months have been extremely difficult as death has lurked around every corner and the future has been uncertain," Khudair Abbas, a former resident, told al-Araby al-Jadeed.

Abbas, who fled the city with his family a few days ago, said public services and healthcare had been non-existent, and the situation deteriorated after Tikirit's main hospital was hit in indiscriminate shelling of the city.

Essential products such as cooking fuel now cost $1.80 a litre, while gas canisters are selling for $55.80, he said.

"The city is plagued by power outages and there is a severe shortage of drinking water. In addition, most of Tikrit's once-crowded mosques have closed their doors to worshippers that want to pray."

Prohibitive cost of escape

An eyewitness from the countryside east of Tikrit told al-Araby that just 15 extended families remained in the city, either because IS was stopping them from leaving, or due to the high cost of a taxi.

It now costs $1,716 for a taxi from Tikrit to Baghdad or Kirkuk and the route is fraught with dangers, he explained.

The witness said IS had killed several young men in public, accuding them of spying for the Iraqi government. It has arrested many more that are being held in secret, he added.

Since taking control of the city the group has created an array of new laws. Anyone caught smoking is beaten unconscious, and anyone found with a mobile phone is flogged, explained the eyewitness.

IS fighters have forced local residents to wear Afghan-style Islamic clothing, and threatened to mercilessly punish anyone who fails to obey.

A former resident of al-Alam district, east of Tikrit, claimed IS had computers details of all security service members in Iraq. He said the group was planning to kill them if they failed to repent.

Many families have fled Tikrit over the past ten days after IS fighters holding the town were bolstered by the arrival of thousands of reinforcements from Mosul and Syria.

The government hopes that if its forces succeed in retaking Tikrit from IS, Mosul and Anbar will follow.

Muzahim Mustafa, a local sheikh, said the crisis was unlikely to end quickly.

Most families who had lost homes in the shelling were not planning to return immediately, he said, because there was no shelter to protect them from the hot summers or cold winters.

The city is now plagued by sectarian issues, he said. "Normality" seems like a long way away.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.