ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Bashiqa, the latest town lost by ISIS to Peshmerga forces, gets its name from the words Bet and Ashiqa meaning ‘house of lovers,’ according to one possible source for the town's name. Even before it was taken by ISIS more than two years ago, it had witnessed both love and hate.
Kurdish President Masoud Barzani declared on the Khazir Frontline Thursday that Bashiqa had fallen militarily and was surrounded by the Peshmerga, who were not rushing to go in for fear of booby traps and other explosives.
Lying only 20 kilometres northeast of central Mosul, Bashiqa had a diverse population, with a majority of Yezidis and Shabaks and a minority of Assyrians and Arabs, leading it to be often described as ‘the little Iraq.’
The town was historically peaceful, where neighbours of different ethnicities and religions called each other blood brothers, and locals celebrated with music, dance, and food particular to their town, not their different ethnic groups. They even spoke a unique language – Bashiqi Arabic.
The town was also famous for the drink arak and was a popular relaxation spot for people from nearby cities.
However, political and security upheaval after the fall of Saddam Hussein and the town’s location in an area disputed between Erbil and Baghdad brought division into Bashiqa.
Security of the town was handed over to the Kurdish Peshmerga by the US in 2003.
As tensions rose between Kurds and Arabs, it was in Bashiqa that then-governor of Nineveh, Atheel al-Nujaifi, was egged by protestors and Peshmerga forces prevented him from entering the town in May 2009.
Locals were split in their loyalty between Erbil and Baghdad.
After ISIS took over the town in June 2014, the group reportedly changed the name to Du’aa, though this cannot be confirmed.
In early 2007, a 17-year old Yezidi girl named Du’aa was stoned to death in Bashiqa. She had been found with her boyfriend. Reports suggest she was killed because of her supposed relationship with her boyfriend who was a Muslim and her planned conversion to Islam.
In the wake of the killing, tensions between Yezidis and Muslims rose, culminating in car bombings on August 14, 2007 that killed hundreds of Yezidi civilians. Al-Qaeda was blamed for the attacks that have been described as the second deadliest terror attack in history, after the 9/11 attacks on the US.
It is unknown of the story of Du’aa was the inspiration for ISIS choosing that as the name for Bashiqa.
The nearby military base in Zilkan, 14km north of Bashiqa, is controversially hosting Turkish forces who are training local forces in the fight against ISIS. Ankara has stated that its forces would participate in the Mosul offensive as a member of the global coalition. Baghdad has rejected the proposition and demanded Turkey withdraw its “occupying” forces.
