Kirkuk security dossier to be handled by Iraqi federal police, says minister

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The internal security of the oil-rich Kirkuk province is set to be handled by the Iraqi federal police, amid repeated calls for less army intervention in security affairs, the interior minister announced on Thursday.

Iraqi Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari visited Kirkuk province on Thursday and met with local officials to discuss the security situation in the multi-ethnic city that had recently witnessed its latest provincial election in a decade.

The internal security of Kirkuk city and Hawija district, which once was believed to be a hotbed for various extremist groups, will be handled by the Iraqi federal police directorate, Shammari said. 

Following the 2017 ouster of Peshmerga forces by the Iraqi army and Iranian-backed militias in Kirkuk and other disputed territories, the Iraqi government deployed various armed forces in Kirkuk, including elite forces, prompting anger among local populations for repeated raids on Kurdish neighborhoods.

The Iraqi forces seized control of several buildings belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which spearheaded the independence referendum in 2017 in the Kurdistan Region and disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad.

The remarks come as Iraq, despite repeated claims that threats from terrorism have waned, still experiences sporadic attacks by the ISIS remnants, whose self-styled caliphate was toppled in 2017 by the Iraqi and Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces with support from US-led Coalition against ISIS.

Additional reporting by Kurdistan24 Kirkuk reporter Hemin Dalo