Kurds protest attacks by Tehran-backed militias in Iraq

Rudaw

Dozens of Kurds, above, who fled their homes in Tuz Khurmatu rallied outside the U.N. compound in Erbil Dec. 5, protesting against the atrocities committed against them.

There has been brutal retaliation against Kurds there and in other areas that had previously been under the protection of the Kurdish Regional Government. The Iraqi government, backed by Tehran-backed militia forces, seized these areas, aiming to put an end to implementation of a Sept. 25 Kurdish vote for independence.

Kurds have faced attacks at the hands the Tehran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militia in Tuz Khurmatu. “The city has been emptied of Kurds and 8,000 families (47,000 individuals) have been forced to flee their homes,” KRG official Bestun Zhalayi told BasNews Nov. 27.

“About 3,000 houses appear to have been confiscated” and “2,000 houses have been looted,” reported Rudaw correspondent Hunar Ahmad, who recently visited the city. “Some 400 houses have been set on fire and more than 50 bombed.” Housing being targeted belongs to members of the peshmerga, the army of the KRG, and those who cooperated with the peshmerga. The Shiite militias also pillaged five Kurdish radio and TV stations.

“The Sunni Arabs from the town were told they will be safe if they returned to their homes,” said Ahmad. “But to this day, they are being killed. There was a bombing the other day that killed 70 to 80, and injured 90.”

— BRIAN WILLIAMS