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ALAM, Iraq Sabha al-Jabbouri gingerly opened the door to her family home to see a kitchen strewn with dirty pots and pans and rubbish. On the table was a half-eaten meal, indicating that the unwelcome guests who had lived here for eight months had left in a hurry.

On the wall outside was scrawled: Property of the Islamic State. Seized after Jabbouris family fled in late June, the home had been used as an administrative office by the militant Sunni group. Printed forms from its Department of Prisons had been tossed around downstairs bedrooms that were filled with desks and printers.

May God destroy them, Jabbouri cried, as she shut kitchen cupboard doors and surveyed the mess. They pretend they are religious men, but look, they live like animals.

Her family is among more than 200 that had returned to the Sunni town of Alam in Iraqs Salahuddin province in the first 30hours after it was reopened to residents this past week, according to figures from militiamen manning the towns checkpoints. But those going home are a lucky minority.

An offensive aimed at retaking Tikrit from Islamic State forces has secured a string of Sunni towns and villages in the province, which military leaders claim is now largely under government control. But the cars and trucks packed with children, blankets and mattresses backed up at Alams main checkpoint represent just a handful of the thousands of Sunnis displaced from the area. The returnees here are almost exclusively from the Jabbour tribe, which has garnered a reputation for its fierce resistance to the Islamic State.

Iraqi troops and militia are welcomed with celebrations after retaking the town of Alam, which had been under Islamic State control, clearing the way for an assault on Tikrit. (Reuters)

The Shiite militias that control the area view other Sunnis with suspicion, accusing them of sympathizing or collaborating with the extremists. Just a few miles down the road, the village of Dawr remains closed to returning residents, while militiamen have burned houses in nearby Abu Ajeel.

We are only letting families back in to al-Alam, to be more specific, only the Jabbour, said Saad al-Daraji, a Shiite militiaman manning the checkpoint. The others were supporting Daesh, he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. They dont have any mercy, so why should we have mercy for them.

Some Iraqi officials also worry that if they allow residents back, Islamic State militants could mix in with returning families, posing a security threat.

But keeping them out exacerbates the Sunni-Shiite tension that underlies Iraqs violence and has helped drive many Sunnis away from the state and toward groups like the Islamic State.

Originally posted here:
As Iraq forces push back Islamic State, a lucky few are able to make it home