Kirkuk Minute July 27, 2023

A weekly brief of events and news occurred in the disputed territories.

Kirkuk 

• On July 26, the local police successfully defused an improvised explosive device (IED) planted near the Baghdad-Kirkuk terminal. Commander Kawa Gharib of the Kirkuk police stated that the locally made bomb was rendered safe before causing any harm.In a separate incident on July 22, ISIS (Da’esh) claimed responsibility for an attack that occurred on July 18. The attack targeted the house of Brigadier Gharib Anwar, the director of a juvenile prison, in the Shoraw neighborhood. Tragically, a security guard lost his life in this terrorist attack. This incident marked the first time a security official was targeted in the city center.
• According to the Iraqi budget law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, an allocation of 600 billion Iraqi dinars has been designated for the implementation of Article 140 of the constitution. This article aims to provide compensation to displaced Kurds by the former Iraqi regime and to offer assistance to Arab settlers who moved to the disputed territories as part of the arabization policies imposed by the al Ba’ath dictatorship. In the past six years, previous cabinets had allocated a total of 300 billion dinars for the same purpose. However, it has been noted that despite receiving payments, hundreds of settlers have chosen to remain in Kirkuk.
• On July 26, during a press conference, the High Electoral Commission of Kirkuk announced that the renewal rate of registration and issuance of biometric cards had reached an impressive 96%. Loy Arkan Ali Agha, the head of the Kirkuk office, mentioned that the process of updating voter information will continue until August 7 as part of preparations for the provincial council elections scheduled for December 18. These upcoming elections will be the first of their kind in Kirkuk since 2005.
• On July 16, the Council of Ministers approved a bill to repeal the decisions made by the former Iraqi regime’s leadership council concerning Kurdish and Turkmen agricultural lands in the disputed territories. This decision comes 11 years after the Council of Ministers’ Decision No. 30 of 2012, which called for the preparation of a bill to repeal the decisions made by the former leadership council. The bill will soon be voted on in the House of Representatives. The move was prompted by weeks of protests and strikes by Kurdish and Turkmen farmers, who were contesting Iraq’s defense ministry’s plans to construct apartment complexes for officers on agricultural lands that were taken from them by the former Iraqi regime.

Khanaqin

• On July 24, dozens of citizens gathered for the third time in the central square of Khanaqin district to demand the implementation of Article 140 of the constitution and address various other issues facing the district. The demonstrators called on the Iraqi government to repeal the discriminatory laws from the Ba’ath regime that affected the Kurds. They also sought recognition for Garmian University, employment opportunities, equitable distribution of posts in Diyala with ethnic balance, and improved delivery of essential services in the district.

Tuz Khurmatu 

• On July 27, militants affiliated with Iranian-backed Shiite Turkmen groups raided the house of a Kurdish citizen named Fakhreddin in Khurmatu and forcibly occupied it. These armed forces are part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and claimed that the house had been used by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) during the fight against Da’esh terrorists. The house, located in the Rizgari neighborhood, was adjacent to the battlefields during the conflict.

Makhmour

• According to Baghdad Al-Youm, a US Marines force has recently arrived at the military base of Giara and Mount Qara Chokh. The reason for their presence, as well as the purpose of carrying several types of medium and heavy weapons, is still unknown. The area has witnessed intense Da’esh movement since the defeat of the so-called “Caliphate” in 2018. Additionally, in the vicinity of the same area, a helicopter from the US-led coalition against Da’esh had crashed, fortunately without causing any casualties.