QARAJ, Iraq - A large number of Kurdish inhabited villages situated in Makhmour have remained abandoned for the past five years in fear of Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cell activities.
Villages in the open terrains of Makhmour's Qaraj region and Mosul province are deserted.
"There are 38 villages located in the Qaraj area. They are empty. One single Arab inhabited [village] is more populated than all of the Kurdish inhabited villages combined. They are almost entirely empty,” villager Lawko Ali told Rudaw’s Hiwa Husaamadin on Saturday.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land, including Makhmour, in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated following a fight with the Iraqi, Peshmerga, and coalition forces three years later.
However, the Iraqi army forced the Peshmerga out of Makhmour and other disputed areas in October 2017 after the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum. This development led to insecurity in Kurdish inhabited areas.
"There are a handful of Kurdish villages remaining populated. Those who have opted to stay are busy with farming and raising livestock. Due to a security vacuum in this region, Kurdish villagers have found it difficult to stay,” Abdullah Tahir, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party office in Makhmour said.
In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted 12 attacks in Iraq from May 11 to May 19, killing and injuring 26 people.
.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
