Security

Joint Iraqi-Peshmerga brigade deployed to Lheban village against ISIS: Official

Returning villagers refuted rumors that ISIS militants had entered their village and set houses on fire, according to footage from Lheban that was shared with Kurdistan 24.

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/12/06 12:01

Officials and members of Peshmerga forces inside Lheban village, Dec. 6, 2021. (Photo: Hemin Dalo/Kurdistan 24)

Kurdistan ISIS Kurdistan Region Disputed Territories Peshmerga Iraqi Army

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Following repeated Islamic State (ISIS) attacks on the disputed village of Lheban in northwest Kirkuk, a joint brigade of the Iraqi Army and the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces have been deployed to the rural area, an official confirmed to Kurdistan 24 on Monday.

The brigade has been deployed to protect the lives of villagers who evacuated Lheban on Sunday due to ISIS attacks, Abdul Khaliq Tal’at, the Kurdistan Region’s representative in the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday.

The Kurdistan Region's Ministry of Peshmerga confirmed that a brigade has been deployed to the village.

Returning villagers refuted rumors that ISIS militants had entered their village and set houses on fire, according to footage from Lheban that was shared with Kurdistan 24.

The village is located inside the security vacuum that has existed between Iraqi and Peshmerga lines in the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad since 2017 where ISIS still has militants.

Kurdish Peshmerga (right) with an Iraqi soldier inside Lheban village, northwest Kirkuk province, Dec. 6, 2021. (Photo: Hemin Dalo/Kurdistan 24)

ISIS had recently ramped up its attacks on the rural areas in these disputed territories, causing causalities among Peshmerga and civilians.

In an attack on Khidirjije village at the bottom of Qarachokh mountain in Makhmour town, ISIS killed 13 people, civilians, and Peshmerga on Thursday night.