Iraq News Now

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) opened fire on residents in the northern town of Makhmour on Sunday night, injuring one person and arresting others after a quarrel over a car that was parked in the street.

“Iraqi forces quarreled with some Kurdish youth in Makhmour downtown last night at 10:30 over refusing to remove a car they had stopped in the street. The forces had then opened fire on some people, injuring one person and arresting 10-15 others over the incident,” Ahmad Haider, the director of police in Makhmour, told Rudaw.

“The fire continued for a long time, but the police in Makhmour have now brought the situation under control and the situation has now gone back to normal,” he added.

Fear and anxiety spread among local residents following the incident, an eyewitness told Rudaw English on Monday. 

Iraqi forces incited the youth who were hanging out in town at the time, the source claimed, and publicly beat the people they had arrested. ISF then took the detained to its local headquarters. 

Following the incident, Iraqi forces conducted a stop-and-search operation and asked shop keepers to close, the eyewitness added.

The forces, according to the source, brought in nearly 10 Humvees and four pickup trucks and fired heavy machine guns, PK machine guns, and AK-47s for nearly 10 minutes after their row with locals. No military presence was seen in the town on Monday morning.

Makhmour is a disputed area claimed both by Erbil and Baghdad. Peshmerga forces withdrew from the town following a federal takeover in October 2017.

Some Makhmour residents have complained of a militarization of the town by the ISF. At different times there have been curfews in the town.  The town is strategically located about halfway between Mosul and Hawija with the latter being a known destination for Islamic State (ISIS) remnants.

Top Peshmerga commanders are concerned of a security vacuum and activity by ISIS remnants in the buffer zone between Kurdish and Iraqi forces.