Peshmerga forces repeal ISIS attack in Makhmour

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces on Friday countered an ISIS attack at Mount Qarachokh in Makhmour, without any casualties, according to a statement.

The militants attacked a barricade of the Kurdish forces at 11:30 PM (local time) in Ala village at the foot of Mount Qarachokh in the southern province of Erbil, according to a press release from the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs.

Kurdish forces did not sustain any casualties in repealing the attack, the statement added.

Makhmour lies within the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad, which has seen growing ISIS attacks due to a lack of security cooperation between the forces.

Close to Erbil, the area was temporarily occupied by ISIS in the summer of 2014 before the extremists were ousted by Kurdish Peshmerga forces, with the support of coalition partners. 

Despite its territorial defeat in 2017, the group still launches low-level insurgency against both security and civilian targets, particularly in those areas disputed by both Baghdad and Erbil.

Once controlling large swathes of land in both Iraq and Syria, the group’s militants are estimated to be around 6,000-10,000 fighters, according to a United Nations report issued last July. 

At least a dozen members of Iraqi security forces were killed by suspected ISIS cells in the disputed territories at the end of last year.