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Kirkuk
- ISIS (Da’esh) terrorists resumed significant attacks in the disputed territories after weeks of relative calm. On Saturday, October 29, Da’esh terrorists attacked a Peshmerga position near Makhmur District, between Perdi and Dibis districts, killing two personnel of the 2nd Brigade, 10th Infantry Division. Kurdish officials continued to blame the Iraqi government for their failures in the coordination and implementation of joint security operations in the area. Earlier, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi ordered the transformation of Peshmerga’s 10th division to Iraq’s Defense Ministry, part of the Baghdad-Erbil agreement to deploy joint forces and, hopefully, prevent further security chaos in the region. Furthermore, Da’esh launched two more simultaneous attacks on the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces on Wednesday, November 3. The Wednesday attack on the Peshmerga targeted the same area as Saturday’s assault; there were no casualties in this attack. The Peshmerga Ministry said, after 30 minutes of clashes, the Peshmerga repelled the terror attack. At the same time, Da’esh intense mortar-shelling on Albu Shahab village of the Daquq district resulted in the death of two soldiers and the injury of a civilian. Near the Abbasi subdistrict west of Kirkuk, Da’esh terrorists opened fire on six coal factory workers, killing four while the other two successfully escaped on Saturday. Politically, despite an increase in terror attacks, the Turkish-backed Turkmen Front and Sunni Arab lawmakers held a press conference, rejecting al Kadhmi’s orders to transfer a Peshmerga division to the Defense Ministry.
- Several Arab personnel supported by Iraq’s military attempted to occupy Kurdish lands near Sargaran district on Wednesday. The farmlands are disputed. It belonged to the Kurds, however, the former Iraqi regime redistributed it to brought-up Arabs as part of the Arabization policies in Kirkuk. Kurdish villagers prevented the military Humvees from taking over the lands. They protested the new Arabization policy imposed by the current acting governor, Rakan Saed.
- On Monday, November 1, the school year officially started across Iraq. In Kirkuk, the head of the Education Department, Abed Hussein Ali Tuma, held an opening ceremony for the beginning of the school year in a high school. Accompanied by several guards and gunmen in the school, he demand all the journalists and reporters to leave the school. After the ceremony, the public denounced his behavior inside the school, especially as it occurred in front of hundreds of students. Following immense pressure from the people and the ministry, he apologized. Ali Tuma said he removed the reporters since he faces “terror threats.” However, several activists launched a social media campaign demanding his removal. The Kurdish studies schools also held an opening ceremony for the school year, raising the flag of Kurdistan and singing the Kurdish anthem. However, the head of the Education department, Ali Tuma launched investigations against the Ali Mardan school principal named Taha Ali. On the same night, National Security Department units raided Principal Taha’s home, but he fled to the Kurdistan Region.
- The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) concluded hand counts in 87 polling stations, matching the initial results. The IHEC said no change in outcomes has occurred as the hand counts matched the electronic results.
- In October, Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) released statistics regarding the exports, production, and sales of Kirkuk’s oil. According to SOMO, Kirkuk fields exported 3,321,685 oil barrels in October. Far majority of these were via the Cihan Pipeline valued at 80,44 US dollar, but there were also 309,768 barrels to Jordan valued at 67,66 US dollar.
Khanaqin
- On Sunday night, Da’esh terrorists attacked Iraq’s 12th division by sniper rifle west of Jalawla (Golala), killing one soldier and wounding two others.
- In a press conference, Khanaqin’s Mayor Rebwar Rahman acknowledged that the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had requested the return of the party’s buildings in the town from the Iraq government. The building was taken on October 16, 2017. Mayor Rahman said, it’s a legal right to return the offices of the KDP and that the matter is a political one and the Mayor’s office is irrelevant to it.
Tuz Khurmatu
- The quick reaction force (QRF) announced the arrest of five terrorists after obtaining information in al Jamhuria neighborhood. According to QRF, the terrorists had warrants out in Khanaqin and were hiding in Tuz Khurmatu after some time in the Salman Bag subdistrict.
- The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) branch in Tuz Khurmatu denounced the “constant attempts and objections” to the results of the station polls in the Kurdish areas after a Kurdish candidate won for the first time in 17 years. The PUK did not say who but said “some” are attempting to annul the results in the stations where a Kurdish candidate of the PUK named Mala Shukur won a seat.
Makhmur
- On Monday, November 1, Da’esh terrorists abducted two civilians in Sabiha village of Makhmur. According to the police, the village consisted of only eight homes and by the time the security forces arrived, the terrorists fled, kidnapping two civilians. The area has seen several cases of abduction and release on ransoms.
Shingal (Sinjar)
- Several activists and journalists launched a campaign calling on the Iraqi parties and government to grant a ministry to the Yazidis in the next cabinet. The petitioners’ statement said that Shingal is unstable and lacks primary services and having a cabinet member will bring more attention to the destructed region in the aftermath of the genocide they suffered.