After Iraqis Wrest Tikrit From ISIS, Sectarian and Tribal Tensions Persist - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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The battle for Tikrit and its surrounding villages, which pro-government forces won more than a month ago, was seen as a crucial test of the ability of the Iraqi government and its partners — including Shiite militias, Iranian military advisers and the American-led coalition — to win back territory from the Islamic State.
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After the victory, an equally important challenge remains: stabilizing the Sunni-dominated area, and repopulating it, without recreating the sectarian animosities that helped the Islamic State seize the territory in the first place.
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Another question was who would control the territory after it was wrested from the Islamic State: the Shiite groups or local Sunni forces.
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