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By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub The Associated Press

A Shiite fighter whose group was working with Iraqi forces takes a bicycle ride Wednesday in Tikrit after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's declaration of victory in the battle to retake the city. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye, AFP/Getty Images)

TIKRIT, Iraq The government declared victory in Tikrit on Wednesday over extremists of the Islamic State group, and it warned the militants holding other Iraqi provinces that they would be the next to fall.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi walked along a street in Tikrit, carrying an Iraqi flag and surrounded by forces.

Across the border in Syria, however, Islamic State fighters made their deepest foray yet into the capital of Damascus by infiltrating a Palestinian refugee camp, according to opposition activists and Palestinian officials.

Iraq's victory in Tikrit was seen as a key step toward eventually driving the Islamic State out of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the capital of Nineveh province.

Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi announced the victory, saying security forces have "accomplished their mission" in the month-long offensive to rid Saddam Hussein's hometown and the broader Salahuddin province of the militant group.

Al-Abadi said that military engineering units still need more time to clear Tikrit of booby traps and looked to the next steps for the city and province.

"God willing, there will be a fund to rebuild areas destroyed by Daesh and the war," al-Abadi said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

The extremists seized Tikrit last summer during its advance out of Syria and across northern and western Iraq.

Originally posted here:
Iraq celebrates victory over Islamic State in Tikrit