ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Displaced Kurdish families from the disputed region of Khurmatu are unable to return to their homes and shops because they were burned down or demolished following the events of Oct. 16, 2017, locals said on Tuesday.
A majority of the Kurdish citizens from Khurmatu have been displaced for over two years in the Kurdistan Region’s Garmiyan area.
Shilan Osman, a displaced Kurd from Khurmatu who has been living in the Kalar district for two years, said explosives had shattered his home following his family’s displacement.
“We are financially unable to build a new house as we are still paying for the one that was shattered,” Osman told local media, adding he has enrolled his children in schools in Kalar where they want to remain permanently.
“Our relatives and thousands of Kurdish citizens have left Khurmatu following the Oct. 16 advances of Shia militias and Iraqi forces to the disputed territories.”
Indeed, on Oct. 16, 2017, Iraqi forces along with Iran-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias advanced to Kirkuk province and other areas disputed between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Federal Government of Iraq, forcing the Peshmerga to retreat. The move was a response to the Kurdistan Region’s historic independence referendum in September 2017, a vote which Baghdad rejected.
The attack led to the displacement of 180,000 people in the affected areas – roughly 70,000 of whom were from Khurmatu – who feared abuse and violence at the hands of the militias.
In December 2017, teams from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) conducted monitoring missions in Khurmatu in the wake of the transfer of security in the area in October 2017where they observed the destroyed homes and businesses in several Kurdish neighborhoods.
According to the UNAMI’s findings, the destruction and looting occurred after the Kurdish inhabitants left the city, most of whom have not yet returned.
Sardar Ahmed, a member of the Khurmatu council in the Kurdish bloc, told local media that at least 93 homes had been detonated with explosives, and 350 others burned to the ground “with no form of financial compensation for the owners from the government.”
According to an assessment UNAMI conducted at the end of 2018, 1,400 displaced families have not returned to Khurmatu.
According to local media reports, 200 civilian homes and over 100 shops and storage facilities in the Komar neighborhood that belong to Kurdish citizens had either been demolished or looted.
Khurmatu is a multi-ethnic town, historically claimed by the Kurds where Arabs and Turkmen also previously lived in peace. The disputed city is located in northern Salahuddin province, south of Kirkuk.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany