ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A protest erupted in Kirkuk after ISIS released video footage of what appears to be 17 caged Peshmarga being paraded through the streets of militant-held Hawijja. “Almost 70 relatives of the Peshmarga hostages demonstrated, and it is believed they will issue a statement urging the Kirkuk administration to take immediate action to follow up on the fate of the captives,” said a Rudaw reporter in Kirkuk. It is believed the relatives and loved ones of the Peshmerga allegedly shown in the video will also call upon the political council of Arabs in Kirkuk to mediate between the families of the captives and ISIS. The footage, which was released by ISIS on Friday, has not been officially confirmed. “ISIS militants on Friday showed 17 Peshmarga captives in orange jumpsuits in a caged procession on Hawija streets,” a well-placed source inside Hawija told Rudaw, “They [ISIS] had tightened security inside Hawijja while the procession was under way.” Mohammad Khalil Jabouri, a member of the Kirkuk provincial council, said an extraordinary session of the provincial council must be held. “We have no option but to start negotiations with ISIS to exchange captives. We have their captives and they have ours. Negotiation is they only moral way to deal with this,“ Jabouri said.
