Iraq: Islamic State organization harasses people in the north of the country
A general view of the city of Kirkuk targeted by a jihadist attack on the night of April 30 to May 1, 2021. AFP - MARWAN IBRAHIM
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In Iraq, ISIS attacks in disputed territories have increased in recent days.
A delegation from the Iraqi Kurdish government is on December 7 in Baghdad.
The vacuum left by the disagreements between the Kurdish and Iraqi forces has always benefited the terrorist group.
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The villagers have been trying to voice their distress for several days.
They live in an area long disputed between the regional authorities of Kurdistan and the Iraqi national authorities, west of the large oil city of Kirkuk.
In this vast rural area, families therefore find themselves on their own to defend their homes and their land.
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See also
: in Iraq, 13 police officers killed in an IS attack near Kirkuk
For a week now, groups of Islamic State fighters have harassed the area every night.
They seem to want to take control of small villages that lie between the positions of the Peshmerga and those of the Iraqi forces.
The fighting has already killed around 20 people, including children.
Many families have resigned themselves to fleeing, leaving the territory to the terrorist group.
On Sunday 5 December, the Kurdish and Iraqi authorities announced that they were carrying out coordinated operations to protect the area.
Yesterday Monday, peshmerga and Iraqi forces entered one of the villages concerned allowing the return of families.
But it is now becoming urgent to find a lasting solution to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
Beyond real political will, it will also be necessary to find a way to unite two forces which have too often found themselves against each other.
In southern Iraq, the explosion of a motorcycle bomb left at least 4 dead and 4 injured on December 7 near a hospital in the city of Basra.
The attack has so far not been claimed.
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Iraq announces the arrest of a leader of the IS group wanted by Washington
In southern Iraq this time the explosion of a motorcycle bomb left at least 4 dead and 4 injured near a hospital in the city of Basra.
The attack has so far not been claimed.
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Iraq
EI
Terrorism