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A weekly brief of events and news occurred in the disputed territories.
Kirkuk
- On Thursday, May 13th tensions arose between elements of the Iraqi Army and Iranian-backed militias of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) near Pirde (Altun Kopri) district. The tensions started when three militants of the PMU refused to leave a cafe after army elements attempted to impose a lockdown in the province due to the increase of COVID-19 cases. Following the scuffle, the PMU refused to hand over the violators to security forces, leading the Iraqi army to deploy troops and surround the PMU building. After a while, the PMU surrendered the militants. The PMU militants had caused similar issues including attacking on-duty emergency police. Since October 16, 2017, the PMUs have been deployed largely in Kirkuk including many groups that are on the US terror list.
- The Second Deputy Speaker of Iraqi parliament, Bashir Haddad accused Kirkuk’s administration of a “failure” and called upon the federal ministries to “quickly intervene due to the governorate’s failure to provide services.” Hadad also called for more financial allocations “to help the people of Kirkuk, who have been suffering from lack of basic services despite the oil resources of the rich province.” Several videos of people burning their waste went viral on social media amid the dysfunctionality of the municipality and lack of solutions by the administration. Moreover, Kirkuk is one of the top provinces in the country in terms of electricity cuts.
- The Iraqi interior ministry announced the seizure of $16 million USD worth of counterfeit 100 dollar bills. The ministry statement said the suspect confessed to the crime and a currency printer was found in his home.
- ISIS (Da’esh) terrorist attacks continued to increase in the disputed territories despite the deployment of more security forces in the region. On Friday, May 14th, near Khabaza village of Riyad sub-district, Da’esh IEDs disabled two electricity towers which were used to connect power between Kirkuk’s southwest and Saladin province.
- On Monday, May 17th, the US-led coalition struck Da’esh positions and hideouts near Rokhana valley. The airstrikes reached near the Hamrin mountains, an area that has been used by terror groups as a base to launch attacks since 2003.
- Following a visit from the Iraqi Interior Minister to Kirkuk, the Defense Minister Juma Inad also visited the province where he held meetings with security officials and followed the recent security operations in the province. Furthermore, the Iraqi Military is set to launch joint operations with the Peshmerga forces in the disputed territories after agreements between Baghdad and Erbil backed by the US-led coalition. A joint security command will be established in several areas including Kirkuk. No date has been announced for the implementation of the agreement.
- On Wednesday, the security forces in Kirkuk announced the arrest of six Da’esh terrorists in several neighborhoods of Kirkuk city.
- Internal competition within the Turkmen Front led to more friction in recent weeks after replacing its former leader Arshad al Salihi with Hassan Turan. Salahi is backed by Turkey’s ultra-nationalists while Turan has been backed by the ruling Turkish Islamist party of Justice and Development Party (AKP). Salihi has been accused by Sunni Turkmen of giving more leadership rules to the Shia Turkmen than the Sunnis who are now in control of the group.
Tuz Khurmatu
- On Monday, security forces confiscated 180,000 liters of smuggled kerosene on its way to Kifri in five tanker trucks. The police launched an investigation looking for the involvement of government officials.
Makhmour
- Despite constant security sweeps and raids, Da’esh terrorists appeared again in the Qara Chokh Mountains near Makhmour. The US-led coalition has launched hundreds of airstrikes on the area since the physical defeat of the caliphate in March of 2019.
Khanaqin
- On Monday, May 17, Iranian-backed militias of the PMU stormed a security building (Asayesh) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) office. The assault came after PUK Asayish in Sulaymaniyah city arrested a PMU militant named Hazim Shakarchi whose name was similar to another person wanted by the security office. Upon his release and return, Shakarchi rallied several PMU militants of al-Badr brigades and attacked the PUK buildings in Khanaqin. After police intervention, the situation was contained. Khanaqin has been under the control of Iraqi forces and the PMU since October 17, 2017.
- On Tuesday, the first joint command between the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces was launched. The joint security operation aims to fill the vacuum between the two forces in the area. Six more joint commands are set to form in Kirkuk, Makhmour, and Shingal (Sinjar).
Shingal
- Since Sunday May 16th, the security agreement between the federal forces and the Peshmerga forces has gone into effect despite actual occurrences on the ground. The agreement signed on October 9, 2020, calls for all security forces and militias to leave the town and hand over the security file to the local police while both the Iraqi Army and the Peshmerga will jointly settle outside of the town.