ISIS gangs attacked the village of Alwiqfi near the town of Sharaban at the border of the Diyala governorate on Saturday.

The assailants attacked the house of the director of the village clinic, Menaf Zidan, and killed him, also setting his car on fire.

According to reports from the ground, the mercenaries attempted to kidnap 4 residents but failed.

The attacks of ISIS in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) have increased significantly in recent weeks. In the regions around Kirkuk, Mosul and Sulaymaniyah, ISIS has attacked dozens of peshmerga positions and villages near the border. Since 10 November, 22 peshmergas and five civilians have been killed in such attacks.

ISIS operates de facto without restrictions

ISIS continues to control a larger region in the southern Kurdistan-Iraq border area and repeatedly carries out attacks. Although only last May the Peshmerga of the South Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi security forces opened a total of four joint coordination centres for security operations in the disputed areas, the jihadists often operate largely without restrictions. In early December, three civilians and nine peshmerga were killed in attacks around the town of Maxmur.

The attacks took place near the mountain Qereçox. An ISIS base is located on the eastern slope, to which jihadists withdrew from northern and eastern Syria after the military victory over the militia in spring 2019. Estimates put the number of mercenaries on the massif at 150. Last year, an ISIS group coming from Qereçox attacked the refugee camp in Maxmur and injured three residents. Between August and September, six people from Maxmur camp were abducted by the militia when they were caught in an ISIS ambush disguised as an Iraqi army checkpoint.

Peshmergas in the region have recently complained that they are practically fighting a losing battle due to the poor equipment and small forces deployed in the disputed areas. The KDP, which dominates the government of the autonomous region, is using the state-of-the-art equipment supplied by the anti-ISIS coalition, along with the largest contingents of troops, not to fight ISIS but to support the Turkish invasion of the southern Kurdish Medya Defense Zones.

Disputed areas

The disputed areas are regions in the north of Iraq whose administrative allocation is disputed between Baghdad and Hewlêr. The provinces of Nineveh and Kirkuk as well as small parts of the governorates of Salahaddin and Diyala are mainly affected.