Peshmerga question relationships with tribal leaders after series of attacks

There have been five attacks in Kirkuk’s western area of Dubz in the last six months.

 

Three of them were suicide attackers and two were car bombs.Dubz’s police are confident that the attackers are coming from nearby Arab villages.

 

“Honestly those villages behind Peshmerga [outposts] are secured. But they make trouble for us sometimes,” Major Ahmad Ali Qader, head of Dubz’s police told Rudaw. “Those who have been arrested have relatives in Hawija. And some others are sleeper cells.”

 

According to security forces, those who have been arrested were either from the Arab villages or received support from the villages.

 

The authorities of the city are now concerned about the friendships they have made with tribal leaders in the region.All the Arab villages are located behind Peshmerga outposts.

 

“Cooperation between the Arab villages and Daesh [ISIS] gunmen is a serious threat,” Kamal Kirkuki, Peshmerga commander of Kirkuk front said.

 

“It is crucial that officials find a way to resolve the situation without violating human rights,” he added.

 

The latest ISIS attacks on the Bai Hassan and AB2 oil fields are proof that ISIS sleeper cells get support from some Arab villagers, according to security officials.