JANE ARRAF:

But this is a much different Iraq than it was in 1991. The graffiti left by Shia fighters and posters with the Iranian leaders who inspire some of them show where the battle lines are drawn.

Almost 200 bodies have been unearthed from near the palace. There are five mass graves found so far, and more expected. ISIS blew up this bridge to prevent Iraqi forces and Shia and Sunni fighters from advancing. Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown and a mostly Sunni city, was seen as a test for a coming battle for Mosul.

This palace is one of the few places in Iraq where you can still see a likeness of the executed president. In this one, he is cast as the Islamic conqueror Salahuddin.

It took weeks for the Iraqi military to take back Tikrit. But with the help of Shia fighters and U.S. airstrikes, they eventually managed to push ISIS out of these palaces and the city. But while they have taken back this city, ISIS is coming back in other provinces.

Tikrit is the first major Sunni city retaken from ISIS. The victory has come at a cost. This was an ISIS stronghold, one of the first cities it captured after Mosul. Its fighters fought hard for it. The battle was street to street, and it shows. Now two weeks after ISIS was driven out, the only people allowed in the city are fighters and policemen.

We were brought here by the popular mobilization forces, Shia fighters under nominal Iraqi government command. Most are backed and in some cases equipped by Iran. The Iraqi military couldn't have pushed back ISIS without them, but particularly in Sunni areas, some have been accused of looting and revenge attacks. On the streets, there are shops believed burned by looters or damaged in the fighting.

This is the effect of three weeks of airstrikes, bombings, and explosions. You can still smell the smoke in some of these places. These blackened shops are pretty much all that is left of Tikrit's main commercial street. More than 100,000 people lived here. Officials think it could take more than two months for them to be able to return.

Local police now secure the city. Parts of it are still rigged with explosives. ISIS fighters blacked out the faces on these shop. They believe depicting the human form is blasphemous. The fighters and police have relocked shops to prevent further looting.

When we leave, the police fire in the air in a traditional show of celebration. For the Iraqi government, recapturing Tikrit was a huge and hard-won victory, but after this battle comes the struggle for reconciliation.

I'm Jane Arraf for PBS NewsHour in Tikrit.