New wave of attacks on Baghdad Kurds

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) - Ashwaq Jaff, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi Parliament, confirmed on Saturday that Kurdish residents in Baghdad are under continuous, serious threat by various militia groups.

Jaff told K24 that, "We have verified the news. Kurds in Baghdad are in danger." He accused the Iraqi authorities of neglecting the matter.

“According to the information we have received, some Kurdish families living in Baghdad were forced to leave the city and are now staying in Sulaimani and Penjwen, in the Kurdistan Region," Jaff said.

Regarding other Kurdish MPs' reaction to the recent threats, Jaff said, "We haven't released any statements in that regard yet, but Kurdish MPs have been following up on the issue to find a solution." 

"Previously, the Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi parliament revealed that several Kurdish families have been threatened by unidentified gunmen inside Baghdad and some of the families were forced to abandon their homes," Jaff added.

Adil Nouri, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament told K24 over the phone, "The threats Kurdish residences face are varied; they may get threatened when traveling from Kurdistan Region to Baghdad, when going to Baghdad through the airport, or when they are in their own neighborhoods."

"In addition, the militia groups who threaten the Kurds are also varied; mainly Asaib Ahl al-Haq led by Qais al-Khazali and Iraqi Hezbollah. The government has no authority over them," Nouri explained.

In 2014, in a statement broadcasted on the militia group’s al-Ahd TV, al-Khazali threatened the Kurds, saying "Kurds living in Baghdad and other provinces will be targeted… their economic interests, offices, and political presence will be targeted." Iraqi authorities have not persecuted al-Khazali for the threats, the Kurdish MP explained.

Nouri added that both the Shia and Sunni Kurds have been targeted by the militia groups in Baghdad. “We will not allow the 1980s Anfal campaign committed against the Kurds happen again. Kurdish families are threatened in Baghdad on a daily basis.”

Anfal (the spoil of war) was the name of the genocide campaign led by the former Iraqi regime against Kurds from 1980 to 1988. At least 182,000 civilians were killed and over 5000 villages were destroyed during the Anfal campaign where Saddam Hussein's regime used internationally forbidden chemical weapons.

Nouri criticized Kurdish officials in Baghdad, especially the Kurdish national Iraqi president, Fuad Masum, for not releasing a statement on what is happening to the Kurds in Baghdad.

(Reporting by Baxtiyar Goran; Editing by Ava Homa)