Fearing ISIS, Kurds abandon homes in southern Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Fearing the presence of ISIS in southern Kirkuk, Kurdish people from Daquq have abandoned their village homes because Iraqi forces are present only inside cities and the larger towns in southern and western Kirkuk, and Hashd al-Shaabi cannot function as a counterterror organization.

A Kurdish resident from the village of Kobane in southern Daquq told Rudaw, "There were 30 Kurdish houses in Kobane village in the past, now it’s down to only one."

The person who spoke on condition of anonymity added: “Not only Kobane is empty of Kurds, but also the villages of Saed Wala, Husammedin, and Zanqir."

There are growing threats of the emergence of ISIS militants in Kirkuk and surrounding areas. Kurdish Peshmerga withdrew in October 2017, following a takeover by Iraqi forces supported by Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries.

A man from Haftagar village, previously a Peshmerga frontline in the ISIS conflict, says the area is now empty.

"ISIS militants openly and especially during night time break into the village buying whatever they need at the shops and bazaars," he said, also preferring anonymity. He added that the ISIS groups are also ambushing Iraqis on main roads.

The Iraqi military and Shiite-led paramilitaries will be deployed on the main Kirkuk-Baghdad road following the reported killing of a number of Hashd fighters by ISIS militants over the weekend.

Ali al-Husseini, spokesperson of Hashd al-Shaabi in Kirkuk, announced a new security plan in southern Kirkuk province to prevent the reemergence of ISIS militants in the region.

“The Rapid Response Force, Federal Police, and Hashd al-Shaabi have begun providing security on the Kirkuk-Baghdad road, which starts from Daquq town stretching to Tuz Khurmatu and Sarha bridge,” Husseini said.

Photos circulated on social media on Saturday showing a number of ISIS militants killing eight federal policemen in a remote area. According to reports, the Iraqi policemen had been captured on the Kirkuk road.

Azad Jabari, the head of the security committee in Kirkuk's provincial council and from the PUK, downplayed on the Iraqi forces in Kirkuk saying they were lacking skills.

"Some of those who have come [to Kirkuk] are Hashd al-Shaabi and other soldiers. In terms of providing security, they don’t know anything,” Jabari told Rudaw.

Despite Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s declaration in early December that the war with ISIS had been military won in Iraq, the group’s sleeper cells have in recent months increased their hit-and-run operations against Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries. ISIS killed 27 Hashd fighters in mid-February.

Since then, the Iraqi army and Iran-backed Shiite militants have launched a number of military operations against the remaining ISIS elements in the Kirkuk region.

Though he did not provide a date, Jabari claimed: "ISIS has carried out very tough assaults. In Kirkuk they broke into the Kirkuk Republican Hospital in order to take a wounded militant out and fought a fight which lasted half an hour.”

Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir, the former chief of Kirkuk Suburban Police from the KDP echoed that ISIS has reorganized.

“Nowadays and very openly those who had been arrested on ISIS charges have now been released and they walk at the city centers,” Qadir told Rudaw.

He added: "during the fight against ISIS, we captured 350 ISIS militants and they were even tried [in court]. After October 16, another 25 militants who had been arrested before were tried.

"The majority of those who had surrendered to the Peshmerga during the Hawija operation and later were handed over to the Iraqi forces have now been released, thus, forming sleeper cells."

He confirmed the presence of ISIS in Kirkuk’s southern and western villages.

"The remote areas of south and west Kirkuk are under the control of ISIS sleeper cells and the group's movements have put the Iraqi army on alert."

Fearing ISIS, Kurds abandon homes in southern Kirkuk

Iraq recovers more than $1 million, seizes new assets in anti-corruption cases

CENTCOM concludes 12th night of Iran strikes

Syrian authorities reopen vital water station in Hasaka province

Related Articles

Iraq recovers more than $1 million, seizes new assets in anti-corruption cases

CENTCOM concludes 12th night of Iran strikes

Syrian authorities reopen vital water station in Hasaka province