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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Villages northwest of Kirkuk have been affected by a series of kidnappings targeting local residents, with incidents frequently attributed to suspected remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS). The security gap in these disputed areas remains despite the group’s territorial defeat in Iraq in 2017.
Locals from villages on the outskirts of the Kani Domalan mountain range, northwest of Kirkuk near the town of Prde (Altun Kupri), told Rudaw that suspected ISIS members - estimated to number between five and ten - primarily target residents and farmers for ransom.
“When the [ISIS] militants come down from the [Kani Domalan] mountain, people see them,” one citizen who spoke anonymously due to security concerns said, adding that the last time they were seen, “they were wearing military uniforms, helmets and body armor. They were carrying M4 and M16 rifles and posing as soldiers.”
The local further detailed that the suspected militants “set up checkpoints, conduct interrogations, and ask for credentials, saying, ‘Haven’t we warned you not to leave your homes at night?’”
Official figures from Prde police show that at least nine people have been abducted from nearby villages over the past eight months.
A local shopkeeper, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, told Rudaw, “Every day, in front of our eyes, they kidnap people and demand ransom.” He added that the militants are “surviving off the locals’ livelihoods,” and that several of his friends have been kidnapped multiple times and released only after large sums were paid.
ISIS seized large swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in 2014 before being defeated in 2017 after three years of intense fighting. Despite this defeat, the group continues to pose security threats, particularly in disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad, spanning Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salahaddin provinces.
Following the 2017 withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga forces from Kirkuk and surrounding disputed territories, a security gap emerged where neither Erbil nor Baghdad maintained a permanent presence. The unpatrolled area has since served as a refuge for ISIS sleeper cells, enabling them to establish logistics hubs and carry out hit-and-run attacks with limited risk of pursuit.
Hiwa Hussamadin contributed to this report from Prde (Altun Kupri).
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