
KHANAQIN, Iraq -- Jasim Muhammad, a Kurdish resident of Saadiya, fled his hometown -- under persecution from “terrorist groups” -- and settled in Khanaqin.
"The security situation in the city improves for a few days every now and then, but then it deteriorates again,” he says.
Following a series of attacks on Kurdish families by armed groups in Diyala province, the Iraqi government and authorities of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) agreed to send a joint patrol of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces to the area.
Residents of Saadiya and Jalawla complained that the deployment of forces did not reduce the level of violence, and as a result hundreds of families fled for the safety of the Kurdish region.
Recently, the Iraqi army replaced its units and sent in new troops, which has given hope to some residents that it may improve security.
According to Jabbar Yawar, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Peshmerga, troops are building outposts in Saadiya.
“We will deploy our forces to the city as soon as the construction work on the outposts is done," Yawar said.
The Peshmerga outposts will be located in Jalawla, Saadiya, Qaratapa and Khanaqin -- towns that are home to hundreds of Kurdish families.
Baghdad has often been against the deployment of Peshmerga forces to Diyala province, arguing that it falls outside the territories of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
But Yawar maintained that Iraq has agreed to the deployment of Peshmerga in the area.
“We have signed an agreement with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense that allows the Peshmerga troops’ 3rd Division to be stationed on the outskirts of Jalawla and Saadiya," he said.
Meanwhile, some security officials believe posting Peshmergas on the outskirts of the city won’t improve the security situation.
Salah Ismael Dalo, director of Garmiyan Security Forces (Asayish), told Rudaw, "Placing Peshmerga troops outside the cities does not help stability in the city. All the outposts are being built outside the cities."
In response to demands from Kurdish residents of the area to send Peshmerga forces into the city to protect their lives and businesses, Yawar said, "The law does not allow us to station our troops in the cities. But we are in talks with Baghdad to ensure that 32 percent of policemen in the city are from the Kurdish community."
In late February, several explosions rocked Saadiya’s Maaskar neighborhood, killing five Kurds and injuring more than 10.
Residents say that, following the explosion, 200 Kurdish families left the city and more families are still leaving.
According to Salah Ismael Dalo, since the fall of Saddam's regime more than 700 Kurdish families have fled to Khanaqin.
But Muhammad believes the number is closer to 1,500 families.
Data from the local offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), on the other hand, suggests that 8,000 Arab families have since moved to the area from the rest of Iraq.
ekurd.com