Iraqi Forces Raid Kurdish Homes in Kirkuk’s Nowruz Neighborhood
Incident Rekindles Concerns Over Post-2017 Policies Targeting Kurdish Residents
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Iraqi army forces raided the Nowruz neighborhood of Kirkuk early Sunday, forcibly evicting a Kurdish family from their home and surrounding another residence in what residents described as a continued pattern of pressure against Kurdish inhabitants of the disputed city.
According to local sources and Kurdistan24 correspondents, heavily armed Iraqi soldiers stormed a home in the early hours of Sunday, dragging members of a Kurdish family outside and seizing control of the property. The incident occurred during the holy month of Ramadan, as families were gathering to have "Suhour," an early breakfast in preparation to resume fasting for the next day.
The homeowner told Kurdistan24 that the raid unfolded while he had briefly left to visit his sister for a Suhour meal. “I was gone for only half an hour for a family gathering at my sister’s house. When I returned, Iraqi army soldiers had broken down the door and entered my home. They prevented my wife and children from going back inside,” he said.
He added that he and his family were forced to sit in the courtyard for nearly an hour and a half before soldiers physically assaulted him. “They beat me with kicks and punches. Four of them grabbed me and threw me out of my own house,” he recounted. “It brought back memories of the Ba'ath regime — in fact, it was even worse.”
The Kurdish man’s sister, who was present at the scene, told Kurdistan24 that Iraqi army soldiers brutally beat her brother and forcibly expelled the entire family from their home. “How can the Iraqi army break into a home like that while the family is inside?” she asked, adding, “This is our home. We have lived here for 20 years. We will never leave it.”
According to Kurdistan24 correspondent, at the same time, Iraqi forces encircled another house in the same neighborhood, preventing the Kurdish homeowner from leaving. A large number of troops were deployed around the residence, with reports indicating that authorities intended to detain the owner.
Residents say this is not the first such operation targeting Kurdish families in the Nowruz district. Iraqi forces have carried out repeated raids in the area in recent years, intimidating and detaining Kurdish inhabitants under various pretexts.
📹| Kirkuk Before Dawn
— Kurdistan 24 English (@K24English) February 22, 2026
During Ramadan’s Suhour, Iraqi forces stormed a Kurdish home in Kirkuk — breaking the door, beating the father, and forcing the family into the street.
Nine years after Oct. 16, 2017, Kurdish residents say the pressure continues.
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During the rule of the Ba'ath regime, homes in what is now known as the Nowruz neighborhood were allocated to Iraqi army officers as part of broader demographic policies. Following the 2003 U.S.-led freedom operation of Iraq and the collapse of the Ba'athist government, many of those officers fled. Kurdish residents of Kirkuk—many of whom had previously been displaced under Arabization campaigns—returned and moved into the properties, with some purchasing the homes legally.
However, after more than a decade of relative stability under Kurdish security control, the situation changed dramatically following the events of Oct. 16, 2017. On that date, Iraqi forces and units affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) advanced into Kirkuk and other disputed territories, taking control from the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces after the Kurdistan independence referendum.
Since then, Kurdish residents and political leaders have repeatedly accused federal forces and allied militias of pursuing policies aimed at altering the demographic balance in Kirkuk.
Allegations have included the confiscation of agricultural lands belonging to Kurdish farmers, attacks on farmers while working their fields, and the settlement of Arab families on lands historically owned by Kurds.
Beyond property disputes, Kurds in Kirkuk have also reported increasing restrictions on cultural expression. Residents say Kurdish citizens have been prevented from raising the Kurdistan flag in the city, even though such expression is protected under the Iraqi constitution’s recognition of the Kurdistan Region as a federal entity.
In previous years, authorities have reportedly barred public Nowruz celebrations in schools and universities, including the lighting of traditional bonfires. The Peshmerga statue located at the northern entrance of Kirkuk—once holding the Kurdistan flag prior to October 2017—now displays the Iraqi flag.
Attempts by Kurdish youths to replace it with the Kurdistan flag have allegedly been met with force, with security personnel intervening and, according to some accounts, opening fire to prevent such actions.
Kirkuk remains one of Iraq’s most sensitive disputed territories under Article 140 of the constitution, which outlines a process for normalization, census, and referendum to determine its status—a process that has yet to be fully implemented.
Sunday’s raid is likely to further inflame tensions in the oil-rich province, where competing claims over land, identity, and sovereignty continue to shape an uneasy and fragile coexistence nearly nine years after the dramatic shift in control in October 2017.