BAGHDAD // Prime minister Haider Al Abadi has ordered Iraqi forces to arrest those responsible for “vandalism” in the city of Tikrit, retaken from ISIL earlier this week, and protect properties throughout the wider province.
Mr Al Abadi’s office did not specify what had prompted the orders, but militiamen have spray painted the names of their groups on homes, shops and other buildings in Tikrit, and looted clothing and toiletries from shops.
Policemen from the rapid response forces have also drawn graffiti on walls in the city.
Security forces have been ordered to “deal with cases of vandalism” carried out by “gangs” seeking to tarnish the achievements of government forces and allied paramilitaries, a statement from Mr Al Abadi’s office said on Friday.
Mr Al Abadi also called on “forces located in Tikrit to arrest everyone who carries out such acts, and preserve properties and facilities in Salaheddin province,” of which Tikrit is the capital.
A number of homes and businesses were burning in Tikrit earlier this week, though at least some of the fires were apparently related to efforts to clear the city of bombs.
Elsewhere in the province, militiamen have admitted to intentionally burning houses in recaptured areas that were believed to have been used by ISIL or belonged to its supporters.
The head of the Salahuddin provincial council, Ahmed Al Kraim, said the fighters had burnt “hundred of houses” over the last two days in Tikrit.
“Houses and shops were burnt after they stole everything,” Mr Al Kraim said. He put the number of torched buildings “in the hundreds”.
“Our city was burnt in front of our eyes. We can’t control what is going on,” said Mr Al Kraim, who left for Baghdad on Friday afternoon due to the chaos.
Also on Friday, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric who is revered by millions, called on security forces and allied paramilitaries to “preserve and guard citizens’ properties in areas that have been liberated.”
Doing so is a “religious and national and moral duty,” Mr Al Sistani said in remarks read out by his representative at Friday prayers in Karbala, adding that “it has an important role in encouraging those who have not yet decided to participate in liberating their areas to decide to participate”.
“This is an important gain for all.”
* Agence France-Presse with additional reporting from Reuters
