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Timeline by Djordje Djukic, with additional reporting by Evan Centanni
A City for a City
Since PolGeoNow published our February map of control in Iraq, two major cities have changed hands, in opposite directions. Tikrit, known as the home region of former leader Saddam Hussein, was the Islamic State's farthest-forward prize in its spectacular takeover of northern Iraq last June. A priority for Iraq's struggling Baghdad government, Tikrit was finally taken back this March and April in a major push by Shiite militias, led by Iran and ultimately supported by U.S.-Arab coalition airstrikes.