Iraqi security forces on Saturday stopped a wave of looting and burning of public facilities, houses and shops by groups of Shia militias in the city of Tikrit, the capital of Salahudin province, days after freeing the city from the Islamic State (IS) militants, a provincial security source said.
The Iraqi forces set up checkpoints at the entrances of the city, preventing in and out movement except for those who are carrying official identities of the security forces and vehicles that are not carrying stolen goods, the source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.
The source said that orders were also issued to the Shia militias, known as Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization, to withdraw from the city which will be controlled by army units and local policemen.
Late on Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, said in a statement issued by his office that he gave orders to the security forces to arrest anyone "breaking the law" in Tikrit, located 170 km north of Iraq's capital Baghdad.
The statement said that the prime minister ordered the security forces to preserve the properties and public facilities in Tikrit, as Sunni politicians reported that Shia militias indulged in looting and arson in the city within hours of the Iraqi government declaring on Wednesday that forces had retaken the Sunni Muslim city from the IS militants.
Since March 2, some 30,000 Iraqi troops and thousands of allied Shia and Sunni militias have been involved in Iraq's biggest offensive to recapture the northern part of Salahudin province, including Tikrit and other key towns and villages, from IS militants.
Large parts of the province have been under IS control since June 2014, after bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and the group.
