Tensions continue to run high in Tuz Kurmatu which has been taken over by the Iraqi army and the Hashd al-Shaabi forces on the night of October 16 with the excuse of “disputed territories” and where thousands of Kurds were forced to leave and hundreds of homes and businesses were burned.

Tensions are high because the Turkmen groups have taken advantage of Tuz Kurmatu’s takeover and attacked Kurds. Recently, there have been some groups around Tuz Kurmatu whose allegiances are unknown.

Reza Necar, commander in the Hashd al Turkmeni which is the Turkmen branch inside the Hashd al-Shaabi, issued a statement and announced that the Hashd al-Shaabi forces will be carrying out a joint operation with security forces on some villages and the mountainous terrain around Tuz Kurmatu.

Necar said a group called the Ensar Es Sunne and Ahrar Es Sunne whose allegiance is unknown emerged in the area after October 16, and claimed that this group occasionally attacks Turkmen villages.

Two people had lost their lives in the recent attack in Tuz Kurmatu center, and 15 others had been wounded. After this attack, Hashd al-Shaabi and the Iraqi army attacked the Kala village and Newcolan subdistrict where people pushed out of Tuz Kurmatu were settled. Most of the people who settled in the village and subdistrict had to leave again.