Daquq mayor requests security forces to expand front outside town
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The mayor of Daquq town in the disputed Kirkuk province on Monday called on security forces in the region to advance toward front lines Kurdish Peshmerga previously held amid a rise in terrorist activity in the area.
Louis Shekh-Fandi, the mayor of Daquq, a district located 40 kilometers south of Kirkuk, said Iraqi security forces in the area should return to the previous front lines the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga manned before they were ousted by Iraqi troops and Shia militias in October 2017.
The mayor's request comes after multiple unidentified shooters carried out a twin attack against residents and a Hashd al-Shaabi – Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) – base in southern Kirkuk close to a football stadium in a village called Imam Zayin al-‘Abidin in the district of Daquq late Saturday night.
The incident resulted in the death of four PMF members and two civilians—brothers aged 10 and 11. According to health officials, several other civilians sustained injuries as well.
“The people of Daquq spent Saturday night terrorized by the security incidents that took place,” Shekh-Fandi told local media on Monday.
The mayor urged the security forces “to establish military stations” in the south of Zayin al-‘Abidin village in Rokhana because of its open fields “where ISIS activity is the most.”
He expressed concerns about the recent Islamic State activity, noting it is “targeting civilians” inside the district center. Shekh-Fandi urged the security forces to coordinate more to fill the security gap in the area.
“Terrorists must not be permitted to target civilians.”
Kirkuk’s security was previously under the control of Kurdish Peshmerga forces until they were pushed from several areas disputed by Baghdad and Erbil by Iraqi forces and Iran-backed PMF militias in an attack following the Kurdistan Region’s September 2017 independence referendum. The Islamic State’s activity in these areas has since increased.
Although Iraq declared a “final victory” against the terrorist organization in December 2017, the so-called Islamic State continues to carry out sporadic attacks. They include bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings in previously liberated areas, particularly in remote villages and regions where security forces have difficulty monitoring the movements of the militants.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany