Dozens of Kurdish villages in disputed Iraqi district now empty due to security vacuum

Mustafa Shilani 2021/01/20 20:37

A previous coalition airstrike targets the Islamic State at Qarachokh Mountain, a rural area outside the disputed district of Makhmour. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Iraq disputed areas Iraq Kurdistan Makhmour Security

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An ongoing security vacuum has forced the residents of dozens of Kurdish villages in the disputed Iraqi district of Makhmour to evacuate, impacting not only their livelihoods but also crucial local agricultural production.

"I fled to Makhmour district center as there is no water, electricity, or any other services in my village," Mohammad Ali, a resident of Kurdi-Baku village, told local media.

"My house was destroyed during the ISIS war. I own 250 dunums of agricultural land. We can only reach our lands during the day because ISIS militants are active in those areas at night."

"The villages are also suffering from an electricity crisis, which affects agriculture," he explained. "The villages are provided with only 10 hours of electricity per week,” explaining that, if things remain as they are, “we will have to abandon agriculture altogether.”

Makhmour is among the disputed areas located southeast of Mosul. After 2003, the district was administered by the Kurdistan Region until Peshmerga forces and Kurdish officials were pushed from Makhmour and other disputed territories such as Kirkuk in Baghdad's harsh military response to the autonomous region's 2017 independence referendum.

Since then, the Iraqi government has assumed responsibility for the security and administrative file.

According to statistics released by the local administration, only four Kurdish-majority villages out of a total of 40 in the area are still inhabited, each with just two or three families still remaining.

Hersh Hussein, director of the Karaj sub-district, stated that "the problem is the increase in Islamic State activity. One month ago, three people were killed by an explosion, causing many farmers to visit their agricultural lands only during the day and return before sunset."

The extremist group continues its campaign of violence in multiple disputed territories. Kurdistan Region officials have repeatedly stressed the dire need for joint security cooperation between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi security forces.

Editing by John J. Catherine