IRAQ-KURDISTAN

10 Years Since ISIS Genocide, Kildani Moves Against Christian Officials in Nineveh

By Nadine Maenza on August 19, 2024

While Christians mark 10 years since the ISIS genocide in Nineveh, US-Sanctioned Rayan Al-Kildani and his Babylon Brigade are taking over, displacing Christian officials, and fostering corruption. Local leaders resisting his influence demand fair representation and protection of their community.


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In the coming weeks, the Iraqi Federal Court is expected to rule on the illegal removal of the Nineveh Provincial Council on July 2 and replacement of 15 mayors and directors. If this action stands, it will remove the last independent Christian mayors outside of the Kurdistan Region and have a devastating impact on the historic Syriac, Assyrian, and Chaldean Christian cities of Bartella, Qaraqosh, Tel Kef, and the Yazidi homeland of Sinjar.

Before the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein, there were 1.5 million Christians in Iraq. US policy unfortunately increased sectarianism, which, in turn, hurt religious and ethnic minorities. By the time ISIS arrived, only 700,000 Christians remained, and under Islamic State rule Christians were subjected to “forced transfer, persecution, pillage, sexual violence and slavery, and other inhuman acts such as forced conversions and the intentional destruction of cultural heritage.” Now, reports suggest between 150,000 and 250,000 remain.

The Struggle for Qaraqosh

The largest Christian city in Iraq, Qaraqosh (Bakhdida) in the Al-Hamdaniya District, was captured by ISIS on August 6, 2014. Because the community was aware of the horrific crimes in Sinjar and Mosul, most of the 60,000 residents fled to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). By the time Qaraqosh was liberated on October 19, 2016, with $135 million in damages, churches and homes destroyed, 40% of Christian residents had already emigrated abroad or had decided to stay in the KRI.

On July 18, 2019, the United States sanctioned Rayan Al-Kildani, the leader of the 50th Brigade militia, for human rights abuses, including intimidation, extortion, and harassment of women. With accusations of systemic looting and illegally seizing land, the US said, “The 50th Brigade was reportedly the primary impediment to the return of internally displaced persons to the Nineveh Plains.” Immediately upon the district’s liberation, Iranian-aligned militias began seizing lands, preventing many residents from returning.

The 50th Brigade is now known as the Babylon Brigade or Kataib Babiliyoun (KB). While they are supported by Iran and close to Iran’s Quds Force, they fall under the Government of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or “Hashd al-Shaabi.” While Kildani claims it is a Christian group and calls himself “Rayan the Chaldean,” most members are Shia from Southern Iraq who have relocated to the Nineveh Plains to build Kildani’s political strength. The political arm is known as the Babylon Movement.


Unfortunately, the consequence of ignoring this deadline has cost Iraqis enormously, especially religious minorities.

After the fall of ISIS, Iranian-aligned militias filled the vacuum in the Nineveh Plains, particularly in disputed territories claimed by both the Governments of Iraq and Kurdistan, neither of which adequately invested in its governance or security. In fact, Article 140 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution lays out a process to resolve the disputed territories with a deadline of 2007. Unfortunately, the consequence of ignoring this deadline has cost Iraqis enormously, especially religious minorities.

Despite accusations of bribing and threatening voters, Rayan and his Iran-backed Babylon Movement won four of the five seats reserved for Christians in the 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election, exploiting loopholes in election laws. Kildani relied on support from Iranian-backed Shia groups to elect his candidates instead of giving Christians their promised voice in the parliament. During provincial elections in 2023, Kildani repeated his success by winning four seats reserved for Christians in the provincial elections in Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Nineveh. While initially Kildani lost the Basra seat to a church-backed candidate, he brought a legal case against him with accusations of being in the Baath party, leading to his elimination. Kildani’s candidate was his replacement.

In July 2023, it was reported that Kildani pressured the President of Iraq, Abdul Latif Rashid, to revoke a decree recognizing Cardinal Louis Sako as Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, the largest Christian denomination in Iraq (67%) and in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. This led to Cardinal Sako withdrawing his headquarters from Baghdad and fleeing to Erbil. Kildani even faked a meeting with the Pope to try and gain legitimacy. While I was with Cardinal Sako days after he arrived in Erbil, he shared his fear for the future of the church in Iraq under such threats. Fortunately, in April 2024, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reinstated the decree, with Cardinal Sako immediately returning the church headquarters to Baghdad.
Resistance to Kildani

The Christian residents and leaders of Qaraqosh have refused to allow Kildani to take political control, although they endure regular harassment going through the militia checkpoints, especially women. On March 11, 2023, Kildani’s brother, Osama, who now commands the Babylon Brigade militia while Rayan focuses on the political movement, attempted to take over the base of the Christian Nineveh Plains Protection Units (NPU) in Qaraqosh, a force of 500 men organized for their protection.

Archbishop Younan Hanno and all the top Christian leaders, along with residents, marched towards the Babylon Brigade convoy to force the militia out of town. On August 5, the Council of Qaraqosh Archbishops, along with five Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean political parties, held another protest against ongoing land theft, corrupt security forces, unfair elections for Christians, frustration with the demographic change, and anger at efforts to remove their political leadership and replace them with Kildani loyalists.

On September 26, a devastating fire broke out at a wedding reception in Qaraqosh, quickly igniting the entire building, killing 134 people, and injuring over 250, devastating the close-knit Syriac Catholic community. Just weeks after the fire, I was able to visit the reception hall and spend time sitting with families who were dealing with unimaginable grief. It seemed every family I met had lost at least one immediate family member, often a teenager, while also losing sisters, brothers, cousins, and parents.

Syriac Catholic Priest Father Adris Hanna, who spent time ministering to this community, wrote that “Exhaustion has taken its toll on the people, and thoughts of migration now loom large. The residents of Qaraqosh have faced persecution and expulsion, driven from their homeland due to their ethnicity and faith.” Many returned to rebuild after 2014, but even they are contemplating emigration due to constant threats.

With rumors that the wedding hall owner is affiliated with Kildani and angry with Kildani’s efforts to remove Christian officials, residents refused to let Kildani and his Babylon-affiliated Member of Parliament Duraid Jamil Eshoo to attend a mourning ceremony. Kildani threatened to attack a church if he was not allowed entry, and Duraid said, “If 100 died now, we’ll make them 200 next time, and we’ll break the bishop’s crosier on his head,” referring to Archbishop Hanno’s traditional staff. All of these comments were caught on video and shared with authorities.
The power grab

On July 2, 2024, Kildani finally convinced (or coerced) a majority of the Nineveh Provincial Council to make the drastic decision to remove 15 government officials in Qaraqosh, Bartella, and Tel Kef, and the strategically important Yazidi homeland of Sinjar.

Kildani’s pro-Iranian Babylon Movement controls 16 of the 29 members of the Nineveh Provincial Council, a huge surprise since this is a majority Arab area. He is part of the Nineveh Future Alliance, along with the Coordination Framework, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and those holding minority quota seats.

The Opposition Alliance comprises the United Nineveh Alliance (9 seats) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (4 seats). The opposition suspended its membership in the council, calling for the Council President to be removed, and filed a complaint with the federal court. The council’s decision brought stunning unity from five Christian political parties, saying the actions “exceeded the law and constitutional powers” and would have “serious negative consequences in society.” All changes are on hold until the court decides the case.

Kildani was also a leader in the alliance that took over the Kirkuk Provincial Council, voting on August 10 to replace the Governor and council speaker positions, leading to widespread news coverage and protests.

It’s important to note that Kildani is not a rogue player, but working closely with other Iranian-backed militia and political leaders such as former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, PMF leader Falih al-Fayyad, and Qais al-Khazali, who in June warned that if the US continues its support of Israel “then America should know that it will put all its interests in the region, particularly in Iraq, at risk and make them a target.”


In fact, it is difficult to find any negative articles about Kildani in local news any longer, showing his enormous power and the fear he instills.

Kildani immediately took credit for the council’s actions on Alawla TV saying, “but today we have restored rights to the people of Nineveh…” While there are dozens of articles about this vote, no local news covered Kildani’s involvement. In fact, it is difficult to find any negative articles about Kildani in local news any longer, showing his enormous power and the fear he instills.
Protecting Iraq’s minorities

The Government of Iraq should challenge the Nineveh Provincial Council’s decision to replace officials with Kildani loyalists, giving him and Iranian-backed militias control of most of the Nineveh Plains. Harassment of religious and ethnic communities at checkpoints by Kildani’s Babylon Brigade or others should not be allowed or tolerated. Those that violate the law should be prosecuted.


Federal authorities must investigate and charge those like Kildani who engage in vote-buying and other election fraud.

Election rules must be changed to protect the political representation of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities in parliament so only minority community members can vote for their own representation. Federal authorities must investigate and charge those like Kildani who engage in vote-buying and other election fraud.

The US and the international community still have the political might to press for positive changes to protect these fragile religious minority communities, but they must act now.

The views represented in this piece are those of the author and do not express the official position of the Wilson Center.

About the Author


Nadine Maenza
Global Fellow;
President, International Religious Freedom Secretariat

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Iraq's Yazidis hope a new village will prompt survivors of a 2014 Islamic State massacre to return

Iraq's Yazidi community leaders have announced plans for an internationally funded project to build an entire new village to house displaced survivors of one of the bloodiest massacres committed by Islamic State militants against their religious minority

BySTELLA MARTANY Associated Press

August 15, 2024,

KOCHO, Iraq -- Ten years ago, their village in Iraq's Sinjar region was decimated by Islamic State militants. Yazidi men and boys were separated and massacred, Yazidi women and children were abducted, many raped or taken as slaves.

Now the survivors are coming back to Kocho, where Yazidi community leaders on Thursday announced plans for an internationally funded new village nearby to house those displaced in what was one of the bloodiest massacres by the Islamic State group against their tiny and insular religious minority.

On Aug. 15, 2014, the extremists killed hundreds in Kocho alone. During their rampage across the wider region of Sinjar — the Yazidi heartland — IS killed and enslaved thousands of Yazidis, whom the Sunni militants consider heretics. To this day, the Kocho massacre remains as a glaring example of IS atrocities against the Yazidi community.

Out of 1,470 people in Kocho at the time, 1,027 were abducted by the IS, 368 were killed and only 75 managed to escape, according to a report by the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics.

All the permits have now been finalized and construction for the new village will break ground on Sept. 5, said Naif Jaso, a prominent Yazidi leader.

The New Kocho is planned to be built near the village of Tel Qassab, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north from the original Kocho, now mostly in ruins.

The International Organization for Migration, the U.N. Development Program and Nadia’s Initiative, an nonprofit founded by Yazidi survivor Nadia Murad, are hoping it will provide much-needed housing and infrastructure to encourage displaced Yazidis to return to their historic homeland.

Their return is a thorny issue and few Yazidis have trickled back to their former homes. In Sinjar, the situation is particularly grim, with destroyed infrastructure, little funding for rebuilding and multiple armed groups vying to carve up the area.

Though IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017, as of April this year only 43% of the more than 300,000 people displaced from Sinjar have come back, IOM says.

Jaso said 133 displaced families have said they are willing to return and settle in New Kocho Village, which envisages parks, marketplaces, a health facility, a psychiatric support center and recreational spaces along with homes for people.

Each house will be built according to the size and needs of each family, Nadia’s Initiative’s spokesperson Salah Qasim said.

Alyas Salih Qasim, one of the few male survivors from Kocho says he plans to go back once the new village is ready. He has been living for years in a displacement camp in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region and plans to settle in the new village.

“I would love to return to my original house,” he said but was not optimistic about others — many Yazidis have since migrated and started new lives elsewhere.

But it's “difficult ... to return to an empty village, and it’s better if we settle in the New Kocho once they finish constructing it," he said.

Earlier this year, Iraq's government ordered displacement camps in the Kurdish region housing thousands of Yazidis to be closed by July 30 and even offered payments of 4 million dinars (about $3,000) to those who leave, but later postponed the order.

Fatima Ismael, another survivor of the Kocho massacre who has been living in the same camp as Qasim for nine years and also hopes to settled in the new village, said the old village of Kocho contains too many painful memories.

The remains of her husband and two of her sons were found in a mass graves while three other sons are still missing, with empty graves waiting for them at the local cemetery.

“I can never return home because I can’t look at the empty rooms,” she said, though she misses the old village community. “How can I live with that?”

Survivors still live in fear of IS and part of the reason for placing the new Kocho at a distance from the old village is to be closer to mountains where many Yazidis took refuge during the militants' rampage. Since their defeat, IS militants have gone underground but are still able to stage surprise attacks.

Commemorations and ceremonies like Thursday's bring back traumatic memories.

“It feels like the first day every time there’s a ceremony or event to remember these days,” Qasim said. “Whatever they do for us, or how hard they try, what we saw is unbearably terrible and impossible to forget.”

After IS, justice for Yazidis ? 

'The world has moved on'

Cathrin Schaer

DW

August 2, 2024

Ten years after the massacre of their community by the "Islamic State" group in Iraq, Yazidis are still seeking justice. This year, the unexpected end of a special UN investigative mission is a worrying setback.

Yazidi organizations say it is very important that evidence survivors of the IS group gave to the UN investigators be protected

 Safrin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images

In the early morning hours of August 3, 2014, the extremist "Islamic State," or IS, group attacked communities in northern Iraq that were home to the ethno-religious Yazidi minority.

Yazidi men were executed on the spot and women and children were captured, with thousands eventually being sold into slavery.

By 2017, the IS group was declared defeated in Iraq. Today, most members are either dead, imprisoned, or in hiding. But many Yazidis are still waiting for justice.

Yazidi families fled into nearby mountains, where up to 50,000 people were trapped without water or food and many died.Image: Rodi Said/File Photo/Reuters
Progress made

There have been positive developments over the past decade, Murad Ismael, head of the Sinjar Academy, an institute in northern Iraq for Yazidi education, told DW.

That includes the resettlement of Yazidi survivors in third countries and international court cases trialing former IS members, he said. It also includes international recognition that IS committed genocide against the Yazidi and the Iraqi government's Yazidi Survivors Law of 2021. That legislation offers reparation of sorts to abused Yazidi women, including a monthly income of around $500.

But there's still more to be done, Ismael and others argue. Of around 7,000 Yazidis captured by the IS group, 2,600 are still unaccounted for and mass graves are still being exhumed around Iraq.

And things are not looking so positive for the ongoing pursuit of justice. "I think the world, including Iraq, is now moving beyond the IS chapter altogether," Ismael said.

Unfortunately this year, the Yazidi suffered another serious setback: the unexpected closure of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the IS group). The organization, commonly known as UNITAD, started work in 2018 to investigate IS crimes, including those committed against the Yazidis, but it will be dissolved in mid-September.

UNITAD is in Iraq at the invitation of the country's government and late last year, the Iraqis said it was no longer needed.

The head of UNITAD, Christian Ritscher, warned that his team would not be able to finish their work by September.

"Many survivors … see UNITAD as the only hope to achieve meaningful justice in Iraq," an open letter by 33 different advocacy groups added. "For its work to stop so abruptly … would be a disaster for survivors, Iraq, and the international community. It would send the signal that justice is not a real priority."

Why close UNITAD?

There are several reasons for UNITAD's unexpected end.

It's partially political, Ismael argues. Besides simply moving on historically, "anything international seems not to be welcomed by the new Iraqi government," Ismael says.

In May this year, Iraq requested that the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, which has been working there since 2003, be withdrawn.

Local media reports also suggest there was friction between UNITAD and the Iraqi establishment. Iraq does not have a law that covers what are known as "international crimes" — that is, serious violations of international law like crimes against humanity, genocide, torture or enforced disappearance.

Two mass graves were excavated last month in northern Iraq, with 153 bodies in them — some are likely YazidisImage: Ali Makram Ghareeb/Anadolu/picture alliance

That is why no IS members have been charged with international crimes in Iraq, Bryar Baban, a Kurdish law professor, pointed out in an analysis for the Paris-based French Research Center on Iraq earlier this year. "Regrettably, UNITAD was unsuccessful in urging Iraqi authorities to enact such legislation," he said.

In Iraq, IS members are usually prosecuted using anti-terrorism laws, he continued. "The Iraqi justice system lacks fair trials, with some as brief as 10 minutes. Trials do not include victims and survivors... and atrocities committed against Yazidis are rarely factored into Iraqi judicial processes."

Additionally, Iraq uses the death penalty, which the UN opposes. This is why, local media suggested, UNITAD had not always been enthusiastic about sharing evidence with the Iraqis.

Impact of UNITAD's closure

"There will be a big void that needs to be filled," Pari Ibrahim, director of the Free Yezidi Foundation, told DW during an event held by the Atlantic Council this week. "We were really counting on UNITAD."

UNITAD has said it will prepare to hand over responsibilities and train locals to carry on work like forensics on mass gravesImage: Zaid Al-Obeidi/AFP/Getty Images

But what legal experts and advocacy organizations are most worried about is what happens to the evidence UNITAD has collected. Some of this has come via the Iraqi government but UNITAD also had investigators conducting interviews in the field.

"A lot of survivors went to UNITAD because they trusted the UN mechanism," Ibrahim pointed out. "A lot did not want to share their testimony with Iraqi prosecutors." They didn't trust them, she explained.

Reports suggest Iraqi officials may now want to keep evidence and conduct trials inside the country. They have also hinted that they should be the ones that give permission to third-country prosecutors to use Iraqi evidence.

But, as law professor Baban writes, what if Iraq refuses to pass on evidence: "Could we not face a denial of justice?"
What now?

Yazidi advocacy organizations have suggested the UN keep UNITAD's evidence safe, or that another special tribunal be created to take its place.




"Ultimately our position is that we want justice to happen in Iraq," Natia Navrouzov, director of the advocacy organization Yazda, said during the Atlantic Council event. "Because this is the homeland of the Yazidis and other minorities that were targeted, this is where most of the survivors, the evidence, the perpetrators, and the crime scenes are. But what is missing is the trust."

There's a draft law in Iraq to allow the prosecution of international crimes but it has yet to be passed. And Iraqi authorities are not transparent enough about their plans, Navrouzov argued. "Right now the message is that 'we're closing UNITAD and we will take over,'" she says. "But where is the trust-building part?"

"I believe in fighting but, as I said before, I also think the world has moved on," Ismael, head of the Sinjar Academy, concluded. "But we Yazidis cannot move on. We hold onto this idea of accountability and justice because, for us, it's personal — while for the rest of the world, it's political. For them, IS is done, it's finished. But we can never forget."

Edited by Richard Connor

Yazidis Fear Returning to Homeland, 

10 Years after Massacre

Yazidi women raise banners during a demonstration demanding their rights and the release of those kidnapped by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, June 3, 2024.

 REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily

London: Asharq Al Awsat
3 August 2024 

AD ـ 28 Muharram 1446 AH

Fahad Qassim was just 11 years old when ISIS militants overran his Yazidi community in the Sinjar region of northern Iraq in August 2014, taking him captive.

The attack was the start of what became the systematic slaughter, enslavement, and rape of thousands of Yazidis, shocking the world and displacing most of the 550,000-strong ancient religious minority. Thousands of people were rounded up and killed during the initial assault, which began in the early hours of Aug. 3.
Many more are believed to have died in captivity. Survivors fled up the slopes of Mount Sinjar, where some were trapped for many weeks by an ISIS siege.
The assault on the Yazidis - an ancient religious minority in eastern Syria and northwest Iraq - was part of ISIS' effort to establish a so-called “caliphate.”

At one stage, the group held a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria before being pushed back and collapsing in 2019.

Now 21, Qassim lives in a small apartment on the edge of a refugee camp in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, far from his hometown.

He was trained as a child soldier and fought in grinding battles before being liberated as ISIS collapsed in Syria's Baghuz in 2019, but only after losing the bottom half of his leg to an airstrike by the US-led forces.

"I don't plan for any future in Iraq," he said, waiting for news on a visa application to a Western country.

"Those who go back say they fear the same thing that happened in 2014 will happen again."

Qassim's reluctance to return is shared by many. A decade after what has been recognized as a genocide by many governments and UN agencies, Sinjar district remains largely destroyed.

The old city of Sinjar is a confused heap of grey and brown stone, while villages like Kojo, where hundreds were killed, are crumbling ghost towns.
Limited services, poor electricity and water supply, and what locals say is inadequate government compensation for rebuilding have made resettlement challenging.

POWER STRUGGLE

The security situation further complicates matters. A mosaic of armed groups that fought to free Sinjar have remained in this strategic corner of Iraq, holding de facto power on the ground.
This is despite the 2020 Sinjar Agreement that called for such groups to leave and for the appointment of a mayor with a police force composed of locals.
And from the skies above, frequent Turkish drone strikes target fighters aligned with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Civilians are among those killed in these attacks, adding to the sense of insecurity.

Akhtin Intiqam, a 25-year-old commander in the PKK-aligned Sinjar Protection Units (YBS), one of the armed factions in the area, defends their continued presence:

"We are in control of this area and we are responsible for protecting Sinjar from all external attacks," she said.

Speaking in a room adorned with pictures of fallen comrades, numbering more than 150, Intiqam views the Sinjar Agreement with suspicion.
"We will fight with all our power against anyone who tries to implement this plan. It will never succeed," she said.

GOVERNMENT EFFORTS

As the stalemate continues, Sinjar remains underdeveloped. Families who do return receive a one-time payment of about $3,000 from the government.

Meanwhile, more than 200,000 Yazidis remain in Kurdistan, many living in shabby tent settlements. The Iraqi government is pushing to break up these camps, insisting it's time for people to go home.

"You can't blame people for having lost hope. The scale of the damage and displacement is very big and for many years extremely little was done to address it," said Khalaf Sinjari, the Iraqi prime minister's advisor for Yazidi affairs.

This government, he said, was taking Sinjar seriously.

It plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars – including all previously unspent budgets since 2014 - on development and infrastructure, including for paying compensation, building two new hospitals and a university and linking Sinjar to the country’s water network for the first time. "There is hope to bring back life," said Sinjari, himself a member of the Yazidi community.

However, the presence of an estimated 50,000 ISIS fighters and their families across the border in Syria in detention centers and camps stokes fears of history repeating itself.

Efforts by some Iraqi lawmakers to pass a general amnesty law that could see the freeing of many ISIS prisoners from Iraqi jails only add to these concerns. And the Yazidi struggle for justice is stalled, with the government this year ending a UN mission that sought to help bring ISIS fighters to trial for international crimes, citing a lack of cooperation between it and the mission.

Despite the challenges, some Yazidis are choosing to return. Farhad Barakat Ali, a Yazidi activist and journalist who was displaced by ISIS, made the decision to go back several years ago.

"I'm not encouraging everyone to return to Sinjar, but I am also not encouraging them to stay at the IDP camps either," he said from his home in Sinjar city, in the stifling heat of a power cut.

TURKIYE INVADES KURDISTAN (IRAQ & SYRIA)

Kurdish village caught in crossfire as Turkish-PKK clashes spark massive wildfires

BARZANII CLAN AND THEIR PERSHMERGA GIVE PKK  NO SUPPORT

Shafaq News FROM TURKIYE

2024-07-11 

Shafaq News/ Violent clashes between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Duhok's northern village of Sekiri have ignited huge wildfires, engulfing vast swathes of farmland and threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of villagers.

According to Nizar Mohammed, the mukhtar (village head) of Sekiri village in Duhok Governorate, artillery shelling from the surrounding conflict has triggered multiple fires, destroying hundreds of acres of mature trees and causing widespread panic among residents.

"The shelling has caused fear and terror among the villagers, who are now trapped between two difficult choices: either remain under the crossfire and continue trying to protect their remaining farmland from the the fires, or flee the village and leave everything behind," Mohammed told Shafaq News agency.

Compounding the villagers' plight is the limited access for firefighters to reach the affected areas due to the volatile security situation and the rugged terrain of the territory. The residents have been forced to deploy rudimentary firefighting methods in a desperate attempt to salvage their crops and homes.

"The people of the village are working day and night to extinguish the fires using primitive means," Mohammed explained.

Turkish operations in mountainous northern Iraq, which have been on and off for decades, have been expanded in recent years with soldiers on the ground backed by air strikes, drones and artillery.

In recent weeks, residents in Duhok said that Turkish forces have been patrolling and setting up checkpoints in new areas deep in the Iraqi territory.

Iraq has stepped up pressure on the PKK since a visit by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad in April.

Late on Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani chaired a meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security and discussed "the interventions and violations by Turkish forces in the shared border areas", Iraqi military spokesman Maj Gen Yahya Rasool said.

Ankara sees the presence of the PKK in Iraq as a major national security threat and the group's presence is one of the biggest challenge to relations between Turkiye and Iraq.

Senior officials have vowed to create a "security corridor" up to 40km wide along the Iraqi and Syrian borders – a move, it says, is designed to prevent attacks by the PKK on Turkish soil.

Despite the protests from Baghdad, Ankara's military operations have continued in northern Iraq.

The PKK has been waging an insurgency against Turkiye since 1984, initially seeking an independent Kurdish state before changing its demands to an autonomous Kurdish region within Turkiye. About 40,000 people, many of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

The group has training camps and bases in the Iraqi Kurdistan region and is designated a terrorist group by the US and EU.

In March, Baghdad listed the PKK as a "banned organisation", and Ankara has called on the Iraqi government to do more in the fight against the militant group.

During a visit to Iraq in April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke of "expectations" of Iraq in the fight against the PKK. Al-Sudani spoke of "bilateral security co-ordination" that would meet the needs of both countries.

However, Iraqi Defence Minister Thabet al-Abbasi in March ruled out joint operations between the two neighbors.

Ankara's operations against PKK fighters in Iraq and Syria have led to casualties not only among the fighters, but also civilians. Operations in Syria have also provoked anger in Washington, which has forces alongside Kurdish armed groups, a legacy from the war on ISIS.

The Iraqi Kurdish region has complicated relations with the PKK because its presence impedes trade relations with Turkiye.

Last week, Iraqi security forces announced the arrest of three suspects linked to PKK, accusing them of sabotage attacks.

PKK targets Turkish military vehicle in northern Duhok

2024-07-09 

Shafaq News/ A security source reported Tuesday that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targeted a Turkish military vehicle in the northern region of Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that the PKK used an improvised explosive device (IED) to attack the vehicle on the road between Kani village and the town of Dirluk, north of the governorate.

The vehicle caught fire, but there were no immediate reports on casualties or the extent of the damage.

The security situation in Duhok worsened in the last two days, with PKK intensifying its operations.

Earlier today, a Peshmerga fighter was wounded in a rocket attack launched by PKK militants near the village of Sikeri.

PKK also targeted a military site of the Turkish army in the Matin Mountain range in Al-Amadiya.

The presence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in the governorate not only affected the security landscape, especially along the borders with Turkiye and Syria but also led to humanitarian consequences such as civilian displacement and fire outbreaks in farmers and agricultural lands.

On Monday, Kurdistan Region's Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed revealed ongoing communications between the Kurdish and Iraqi governments with Ankara regarding the Turkish incursion on the Iraqi territory.

Ahmed considered the presence of the PKK as "illegal," stressing that "we all believe that the PKK should leave these areas to avoid harming the residents."

In a TV interview, the Kurdish President, Nechirvan Barzani, said, "The (Kurdistan) Workers' Party is a severe headache for the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as well. They do not value the legitimacy of the Kurdistan Region's institutions and threaten Turkiye from our territories."

PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and the EU. Iraq considers it a "banned" organization.

Turkish airstrikes destroy homes in northern Duhok amid PKK conflict

2024-07-09 

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, eyewitnesses in Duhok reported that several houses were damaged and burned in a village in the north of Duhok Governorate due to Turkish bombing.

Witnesses informed Shafaq News Agency, "Turkish fighter jets conducted raids on Mazi village, located at the foot of Kara Mountain overlooking Al-Amadiya district, north of Duhok."

"The airstrikes resulted in the destruction and burning of several homes that had been abandoned by the village's residents years ago due to the armed conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish army," they reported.

Earlier today, PKK militants launched a rocket attack on a Peshmerga position in Al-Amadiya district, north of Duhok, which resulted in the injury of a Peshmerga fighter near the village of Sikeri.

In addition, a military site of the Turkish army in the Matin Mountain range in Al-Amadiya was targeted by the PKK.

In Duhok, the presence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party has profoundly influenced local dynamics. Known for its military engagements against Turkish forces and occasional clashes with the Peshmerga, the PKK has raised significant security concerns. These activities have not only affected the security landscape, especially along the borders with Turkiye and Syria but have also led to humanitarian consequences such as civilian displacement and fire outbreaks in farmers and agricultural lands.

PKK drone attack targets Turkish military point in Matin Mountain

2024-07-09 

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, a security source reported that a military point of the Turkish army in the Matin Mountain range in Al-Amadiya district was attacked by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, “The PKK members used a drone in their attack, and the Turkish forces responded using several weapons,” noting that “the extent of the losses is not yet known.”

The Turkish army has established several new military outposts in the Matin Mountain range due to escalating confrontations with PKK in various areas of Al-Amadiya district, In Duhok Governorate.

The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK dates back to the early 1980s when the PKK, founded by Abdullah Öcalan, began advocating for an independent Kurdish state within Turkiye. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the conflict intensified, with the PKK engaging in guerrilla warfare and the Turkish military conducting large-scale operations against PKK bases, particularly in southeastern Turkiye and northern Iraq.

The early 2000s saw intermittent ceasefires and attempts at peace negotiations, including a notable peace process in 2013. However, this process collapsed in 2015, leading to renewed hostilities.

Turkish drone targets suspected PKK members in Sinjar; injuries reported

2024-07-08 

Shafaq News/ On Monday, a police source in Nineveh reported that three individuals, suspected to be members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), were injured in an airstrike believed to have been conducted by a Turkish drone in the Sinjar district.

The source informed Shafaq News Agency, stating, "The airstrike targeted a civilian car (Tucson) transporting three Yazidis, suspected to be PKK-affiliated, on the road between the Tal-Qasab complex and Sinjar district, west of Mosul."

"The injured were transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment, and it was not clear whether there were any deaths among them," he added.

The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK dates back to the early 1980s when the PKK, founded by Abdullah Öcalan, began advocating for an independent Kurdish state within Turkiye. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the conflict intensified, with the PKK engaging in guerrilla warfare and the Turkish military conducting large-scale operations against PKK bases, particularly in southeastern Turkiye and northern Iraq.

The early 2000s saw intermittent ceasefires and attempts at peace negotiations, including a notable peace process in 2013. However, this process collapsed in 2015, leading to renewed hostilities.

PKK is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union and recently a “banned” organization in Iraq.

Turkish artillery hits PKK targets, sparks fires in Duhok

2024-07-07 

Shafaq News/ A security source said that Turkish forces launched on Saturday artillery and warplane bombardment targeting sites of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Rashafa valley of the Dirluk district, north of Duhok Governorate.

The source stated to Shafaq News Agency that the bombing caused extensive material damage to residents’ farms and ignited widespread fires in the nearby forests. The fires continue to burn, and fire brigades have not yet been able to control them at the time of this report.

The conflict between Turkiye and the PKK dates back to the early 1980s when the PKK, founded by Abdullah Öcalan, began advocating for an independent Kurdish state within Turkiye. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the conflict intensified, with the PKK engaging in guerrilla warfare and the Turkish military conducting large-scale operations against PKK bases, particularly in southeastern Turkiye and northern Iraq.

The early 2000s saw intermittent ceasefires and attempts at peace negotiations, including a notable peace process in 2013. However, this process collapsed in 2015, leading to renewed hostilities.

PKK is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union and recently a “banned” organization in Iraq.

Tukriye establishes new military posts in northern Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan

2024-07-07 

Shafaq News/ Turkish forces have set up new military positions in the north of Duhok governorate, within Iraq's Kurdistan region, amid ongoing operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a local source reported on Sunday.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, "Turkish forces established several new military posts in the Nahili area of Al-Amadiya district, between the Serkli and Rashafa valleys on the slopes of Matin Mountain." These positions are reportedly equipped with weapons, military vehicles, and machinery for road construction and base establishment.

Since 2019, Ankara has established several bases in the Duhok Governorate through informal agreements between Turkiye and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Informal figures suggest that Turkiye has a permanent deployment of 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers in Iraqi territory, where it has created a de facto secure zone and moved the armed struggle onto Iraqi soil. It has also built roads in Iraq to connect its military bases and achieve more effective area control. The last one was in February 2024, when Ankara said the road is to "streamline the movement of military and logistical supplies to its bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq."

In 2022, Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army Abdel Emir Yarallah exposed the extent of Turkiye's military presence in Iraq, revealing that it operates five bases in the country.

Yarallah said, "The bases include more than 4,000 Turkish fighters." noting that Turkiye had 40 positions in Iraq in 2021, and the figure has since risen to 100, with many located just short distances from the Zakho, Al-Amadiya, and Duhok regions.

Iraq views Turkish airstrikes and bases as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. These operations commonly cause civilian casualties and damage infrastructure alongside the killing of PKK members.

The Iraqi government also worries that Turkish military presence in northern Iraq could destabilize the Region and empower Kurdish separatists within Iraq.

On the other hand, Turkiye expressed disappointment in the Iraqi government's historical "reluctance" to acknowledge and ban the PKK as a terrorist organization.

However, recent developments have signaled a shift in Iraq's stance.

Last March, Turkiye proposed the establishment of a "joint operation center" with Iraq to combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a move that has received a positive response from Baghdad.

The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

In late June, the U.S.-based organization Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) observed the entry of 300 Turkish tanks and armored vehicles into the Kurdistan region, establishing a security barrier within the Badinan area.

According to the CPT report, approximately 1,000 Turkish soldiers have been transported between the Turkish military bases, setting up a security checkpoint between the villages, allowing civilian passage only after identity verification.

The report indicated that Turkiye's new plan is to establish a security line stretching from Shiladze to Batifa, passing through Dirluk, Bamarni, and Bekova. All villages, towns, districts, sub-districts, valleys, and lands behind this line would be under Turkish military control, potentially turning these areas into conflict zones if clashes occur.

The report also suggested that another objective of this Turkish military movement is to reach Mount Haftanin in the Shiladze area and occupy the Gara mountain range, which would result in the Kurdistan Regional Government losing control over 70-75% of Duhok.

In response, Zeki Akturk, Press and Public Relations Advisor at the Turkish defense ministry stated that Turkish forces are working to enhance control in the Claw-Lock operation area along the border.

"We are developing control over the area achieved so far through the ongoing Claw-Lock operation in northern Iraq since April 2022, with extraordinary and unexpected operations in line with field requirements," he said in a press statement.

He added, "Turkish forces continue their activities to neutralize the PKK's operational capabilities, aiming to completely secure northern Iraq while taking effective and dynamic measures along the border."

Akturk noted that authorities established the checkpoints in residential areas near the Turkish operation zones in coordination with the Iraqi side.

Neither the Iraqi nor the Kurdish side commented on Akturk's statement.

Turkish drone attack in Kurdistan Region leaves two PKK members injured

2024-07-08 

Shafaq News/ On Monday, The Counter-Terrorism Service in the Kurdistan Region confirmed that two members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), were injured in a Turkish drone bombing that targeted a car transporting them on the road between the Tal-Qasab complex and Sinjar district, at 11:10 this morning.

The Service stated, "According to information, the car was carrying three people, and two of them were seriously injured."

A police source in Nineveh had informed Shafaq News Agency earlier today, "The airstrike targeted a civilian car (Tucson) transporting three Yazidis, suspected to be PKK-affiliated."

He added, "The car belongs to the Gara Tefi channel affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party," noting that "the injured were transferred to a nearby hospital to receive treatment, and it was not clear whether there were any deaths among them."

Turkiye has been involved in military operations in northern Iraq, targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The Turkish government has cited security concerns and the need to combat terrorism as the rationale for its military actions in Kurdistan.

These operations have involved airstrikes, artillery shelling, and ground incursions into Iraqi territory.

The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkiye and several other countries, has been engaged in a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, seeking greater autonomy for Kurds within Turkiye.

The Turkish shelling in Kurdistan has led to civilian casualties and displacement, exacerbating tensions in the region.

It has also raised concerns among Kurdish communities and international observers about the impact on civilian populations and the broader stability of the region.

RIGHT WING BARZANI FAMILY CONTROL IRAQI KURDISTAN BETRAYING THE PKK TO BOTH TURKEY AND IRAN

ONLY ONE?!

Iraqi court sentences wife of slain Islamic State leader to death for crimes against Yazidi women

An Iraqi court has issued a death sentence against one of the wives of the late brutal Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, alleging that she was complicit in crimes committed against Yazidi women captured by the militant group

Qassim Abdul-Zahra
1 day ago

Iraq Islamic State Leader Wife

An Iraqi court issued a death sentence Wednesday against one of the wives of the late brutal Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, alleging that she was complicit in crimes committed against Yazidi women captured by the militant group.

The ruling comes weeks before the 10-year mark since IS launched a series of attacks against the Yazidi religious minority in the northern Iraqi region of Sinjar in early August 2014, killing and capturing thousands — including women and girls who were subjected to human trafficking and sexual abuse. The United Nations said the campaign against the Yazidis amounted to genocide.

A statement by Iraq’s judicial council said the Karkh Criminal Court sentenced the woman for “detaining Yazidi women in her home” and facilitating their kidnapping by “the terrorist ISIS gangs in Sinjar district,” the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported. It also said the ruling was issued in accordance with Iraq’s anti-terrorism law and its “Yazidi survivors law."

The statement did not name the defendant, but two court officials identified her as Asma Mohammed, who was arrested in 2018 in Turkey. An Iraqi security official told The Associated Press Wednesday she was handed over to Iraqi authorities last year. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Survivors of the IS attacks in Iraq have complained of a lack of accountability and have criticized the decision — made at the request of the Iraqi government — to wind down a U.N. probe into IS crimes, including the alleged use of chemical weapons.

At the same time, human rights groups have raised concerns about the lack of due process in trials of alleged IS members in Iraq and have particularly criticized mass executions of those convicted on terrorism charges. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said the convictions are often extracted under torture and urged Iraq to abolish the death penalty.

On June 29, 2014, al-Baghdadi, known as one of the most ruthlessly effective jihadist leaders of modern times, declared the militant group’s caliphate in large swaths of Iraq and Syria.

In 2019, he was killed in a U.S. raid in Syria, dealing a major blow to the militant group which has now lost its hold on all the areas it previously controlled though some of its cells continue to carry out attacks.

YAZIDI

Young women fear return to a broken land of rubble and brutality

By Caroline Hawley, Diplomatic correspondent

BBC

Amar Foundation
Yazidi singers have performed in locations including London and Oxford


It’s 10 years since Islamic State militants tried to wipe out the Yazidi people in the Sinjar region in northern Iraq. They massacred thousands of men, and raped and enslaved girls and women. Now survivors face a new fear as the Iraqi government plans to close down the tented camps where they live, in other parts of the country, to encourage them to return to the areas they fled from.

Several Yazidi women who survived the horrors and live in an affected camp have been in the UK for a series of choral performances, seeking to showcase their cultural heritage and highlight the plight of their community, which is an ancient religious and ethnic minority.

Tears slide silently down Amira’s cheeks as she tells the BBC of the horrific brutality inflicted by the militants when they captured the Yazidis’ ancestral homeland in 2014. A decade has passed, but her pain remains raw.

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of violence

Amira managed to flee to the mountains as men from her community were shot dead and women and girls were raped and enslaved.

But two of her sisters were among those put to work in the households of Islamic State (IS) fighters, who had declared the Yazidis to be devil-worshippers.

Handout
Amira is one of the Yazidi women in a choir that has been visiting the UK


Unlike many slaves Amira’s sisters weren’t raped, she says, because they were already married.

However, one sister, whose husband had been killed by the militants, was beaten on a daily basis.

And she received an unspeakably cruel threat.

“She had given birth 15 days before she was captured, and they said to her: ‘We will kill your baby and force you to eat his flesh',” Amira says.

Her voice drops to a near-whisper as she describes how her other sister, Delal - who was pregnant when she was captured - lost her baby daughter at the age of five months because she couldn’t produce milk to feed her. Delal tried to kill herself but was stopped by her four-year-old son. “Her child was only four years old,” says Amira. “And he said to her, ‘Mum, please don’t kill us. Let’s get out of here.’”

When she later took a tomato from the fridge to feed him, she and her two surviving children were locked in a room for a week as punishment, with no food and only a small bottle of water and carton of milk.

Reuters
Yazidis fled en masse from Sinjar when IS descended on the town in 2014


The Iraqi government’s plans to close down the camps where tens of thousands of Yazidis have been living since 2014 is a frightening prospect for many of them.

The limited services currently provided within the camps are due to be cut off by the end of July, with grants for them to return to the region of Sinjar, where the massacres took place.

AFP
Ten years after the IS attack on Sinjar, little has been rebuilt


“The situation is very dangerous,” Vian Dakhil, the only Yazidi MP in the Iraqi parliament, told the BBC. “There are a lot of armed groups there and the Iraqi government forces are weak.”

Much of the town of Sinjar is still rubble, she says. “There are no houses, no schools, no hospitals, no anything.”

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has echoed their concerns, saying there should be no forced closure of the camps. “No-one should be made to return to a place where they may be at risk of irreparable harm, or not have access to basics like water, healthcare, housing and jobs to help them resume a decent life,” says Farha Bhoyroo, the agency’s spokesperson in Iraq.

The agency says that it is worried that some of those displaced from Sinjar may end up with no option but to stay in the decommissioned camps

Hadiya, 28, who was also part of the choir visit organised by the Amar Foundation charity, told the BBC that, before 2014, she had “everything – including a very big house”.

Now she and her family live in a tent, just 4m (13ft) long and 3m wide, “like prisoners”. It’s blisteringly hot in the summer and cold in the winter. But at least, there, she feels safe.


Hadiya normally lives in a tent with her family


Hadiya too is still haunted by terrible memories – including what happened to her cousin, Ghazal.

Ghazal was taken captive at the age of eight and, two years later, forced to marry. When she was rescued in 2020, at the age of 14, Hadiya says she was raising two children whom she had to leave behind – and had been brainwashed into thinking the Yazidis were “bad people”.

Ghazal, now 18, remains disturbed and withdrawn. Her older sister – who would now be 19 – is one of hundreds of women and girls who are still missing.

“No-one is asking for them,” Zahra Amra, office manager of the Amar Foundation in Dohuk, complains bitterly. She's also in the UK with the singers, acting as translator.

“No-one is helping us search for our sisters. Too many Isis fighters have been released from prisons. When IS came no-one helped us and now they want us to go back to Sinjar.”


Zahra, left, inside the tent where she lives, in a camp


In August 2014, Zahra lost classmates and friends. Her grandmother was shot dead because she was too frail to make it up Mount Sinjar where tens of thousands of Yazidis fled as IS advanced.

But most of all, she says, she lost the future that she and her friends had been planning, and the collective trauma and sense of abandonment run deep.

“We don’t feel safe,” she says. “And we don’t trust anyone.”

The Yazidi women's peace choir can be heard performing on BBC Radio 3's Music Planet, available on BBC Sounds.

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=YEZIDI

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=YAZIDI

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=YEZEDI