Over 136 thousand Iraqis displaced between Baghdad and Arbil

Military tensions between Iraq and Kurdistan Region at disputed territories have displaced nearly 136.000 Iraqis, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The International Organization for Migration said “some 136,000 people are still displaced in northern Iraq after the latest military operations”.

“In a statement she made over the weekend, Iraq’s Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande said the situation is still volatile and many people are returning home before fleeing a second and third time when hostilities resume,” the statement read.

The IOM said “It is extremely concerned by the reports of violence, looting and destruction, stressing that the authorities of all parties must do their utmost to ensure the safety of the families trapped in recent events”. The U.N. urged Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to coordinate measures to prevent further clashes.

Iraqi troops, backed by Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), took over Kirkuk province from Kurdish Peshmerga fighters earlier this month, fulfilling instructions made earlier by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to retake areas where sovereignty is disputed with Kurdistan Region’s Government. The military takeover came after Kurdistan voted in September to secede from Iraq. The United Nations says Iraq’s war against Islamic State militants since 2014 has already displaced more than five million.

In the same context, Seven Islamic State militants were killed Tuesday by an Iraqi air raid west of Anbar, according to a paramilitary commander. Zayzel al-Obaidi, a senior commander at the mobilization forces, told Almaalomah website that the seven militants died when Iraqi army fighter jets pounded their location in Qadisiya in central Rawa. Those killed included foreign nationals, Obaidi said.

The towns of Rawa and Qaim in western Anbar are currently Islamic State’s last remaining havens in Iraq. Iraqi forces recaptured all other IS bastions in operations launched in October 2016, most notably Mosul, the group’s former capital. Military Operations to retake Rawa and Qaim will be launched by end October, the security committee of Anbar provincial council said earlier on Tuesday.

“Military troops are ready for the battle. However, no instructions regarding participation of al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces] in the operations are clear,” the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper quoted Na’im al-Ka’oud, head of the committee, as saying. “The visits made by some leaders can be considered as follow-up on situations to acknowledge developments.”

Tribal fighters, Jazeera and Badiya operations commands and local police will take part in the battles, he said. “Our information indicate that IS leaders fled Qaim and Rawa toward Syria and Libya,” Ka’oud said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Tuesday he was heading for visits to Turkey and Iran, completing a regional tour that included Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. Abadi said during his weekly ministerial meeting that the visits to Turkey and Iran would “convey Iraq’s vision of the region’s future”, as quoted by Shafaq News website. In Turkey, he will discuss “water shares and common borders”, the website quoted Abadi saying.

Iran is the most ardent political and military backer of the Shia-led Iraqi government and the paramilitary troops fighting Islamic State militants. Turkish and Iraqi political stances have also converged over the recent months in rejecting a referendum on independence run by Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in September.

Commenting on the situation in Kirkuk, Abadi said Kurdish Peshmerga troops “cooperated with the federal troops and had not responded to calls for escalation”. He added that “any resistance to the joint {government} forces protects corruption and petroleum smuggling”.

Abadi’s remarks came as news reports told of clashes between Iraqi forces, backed by the Popular Mobilization Forces, on one side, and Peshmerga on the other side in Makhmur, north of Nineveh.

Iraqi troops, backed by Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), took over Kirkuk province from Kurdish Peshmerga fighters earlier this month, fulfilling instructions made earlier by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to retake areas where sovereignty is disputed with Kurdistan Region’s Government. The military takeover came after Kurdistan voted in September to secede from Iraq.