PHOTOS: Tuz Khurmatu turned into ghost town

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Tuz Khurmatu has turned into a ghost town ever since the Iraqi army and Shia militia Hashd al-Shaabi pushed out Kurdish Peshmerga forces and took control.

Since the Iraqi offensive on Tuz Khurmatu on October 16, at least 1400 families have fled their homes and sheltered in Erbil and Sulaimani. Meanwhile, dozens of houses and shops belonging to the Kurds were looted, destroyed and burned.

Kurdistan 24 obtained photos from inside the town of Tuz Khurmatu that documented deserted streets, and damaged buildings.

Khurmatu is a multi-ethnic town, historically claimed by the Kurds where Arabs and Turkmen also lived in peace. The disputed city is located in northern Salahadin province and southern Kirkuk Province.

Aram Sheikh Muhammed, the Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament in a letter to the Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi stated that Kurds fled their home in fear of retaliatory measures by the Iraqi forces in charge of the town, citing locals who said the occupiers endangered their lives and properties.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), in a statement late last month, asserted that following the Iraqi forces and the Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia's attacks, the Kurdish people in Tuz Khurmatu's suffering warranted urgent and particular attention.

The statement mentioned that Kurds had faced “sectarian hatred” following the fall of Kirkuk which saw, according to the PUK, thousands of Kurdish houses burned down and looted in Tuz Khurmatu.

Editing by Sam A.