Iraqi army raids Kurdish homes in Kirkuk, forcibly expels families

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi army raided five Kurdish homes in Kirkuk early Sunday and forcibly expelled the families, claiming the properties are built on land belonging to the military.

The houses are located in the Newroz neighborhood in southern Kirkuk, an area home to Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmens. The Iraqi army maintains that several homes there were constructed on military-owned land. However, a Rudaw reporter in the city said that only Kurdish houses have been targeted so far.

The army previously attempted to expel Kurdish families from the same neighborhood in early 2024, managing to seize five houses at the time. Several Kurds who resisted were detained. The army later withdrew from the properties, and the families resumed renovations.

In the early hours of Sunday, troops returned to take over the same five houses. Families told Rudaw that soldiers used force after residents refused to leave.

Shawkat, one of the expelled residents, said he had gone to a relative’s house for suhoor – the pre-dawn meal during Ramadan – and returned to find around 15 soldiers inside his home.

“When I sat in the house and refused to leave, they used force to remove me. They claim the land belongs to them and refused to show any [court] ruling [authorizing the raid],” he said.

The army left the neighborhood later on Sunday. 

The homes in the Newroz neighborhood were previously inhabited by members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party. Following the fall of the regime in 2003, Kurdish families displaced from Kirkuk returned and settled in the houses.

Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority after 2003, issued a decree registering the properties under Iraq’s finance ministry.

A later decision by a former Kirkuk provincial council allowed the families to remain in the homes until the federal government provided compensation.

Hardi Mohammed contributed to this article from Kirkuk, Iraq.