Recently Agence France Presse’s Jean Marc Mojon went
to Tuz Kharmato in northern Salahaddin province. He talked with several
residents who described how the town was divided between Turkmen and Kurds.
These tensions recently exploded after a shootout at a checkpoint between
Peshmerga and Hashd al-Shaabi in November. Things quickly escalated with
citizens taking up arms and kidnapping and burning property from the other
group. Human Rights Watch just released a report
“Iraq: Ethnic Fighting Endangers Civilians” documenting that crisis along with
others that have happened in the district since it was freed of the Islamic
State in 2014.
In November, a shootout at a checkpoint led to several days
of ethnic fighting between Turkmen and Kurds in Tuz. On November 12 a small
convoy of Hashd fighters was stopped at a Peshmerga checkpoint. A confrontation
between the two sides escalated to gunfire where one Hashd was wounded. He was
brought to the town’s hospital. Officials at the facility said that the
fighters got angry at the staff and started shooting leading the Asayesh that
were guarding the hospital to respond. Peshmerga then arrived and an even
bigger fight broke out. Iraq
Oil Report had a very similar story supporting Human Rights Watch’s report.
Afterward local Turkmen and Kurds joined the Hashd and Peshmerga to kidnap
people from the opposing side along with Arabs, looted businesses and burned
homes and other property. They were joined by reinforcements arriving from
Baghdad and Kurdistan. Human Rights Watch recorded stories of 50 Kurdish
buildings and 80 Turkmen ones being destroyed during the conflict. Tuz
residents claimed that the total could have been as high as 400 houses and
shops. Human Rights Watch did not report total casualties, but the press said
that anywhere from 15
to 21 Hashd,
Peshmerga, and civilians lost their lives and dozens more were wounded. In the
end, Iran
stepped in to mediate between the two sides and a ceasefire was announced. These
types of confrontations
have
happened
before between
the Hashd and Kurds as both are vying for control of the district. As more
occur the tensions between the sides grow stronger leading for more
opportunities for another blow up in the future.
Human Rights Watch documented two other incidents of abuse
by the Hashd that occurred in Tuz. On October 22 a Shiite Turkmen procession
for Ashura was hit by a car bomb. Afterward the Hashd arrested 150 Sunni Arabs.
Most were let go after a few days. Some who were released said they were
tortured or witnessed abuse. Another 8-34 people were killed, and around 50 are
still being held. Human Rights Watch also documented widespread kidnappings by
the Hashd in Tuz and nearby Amerli and Suleiman Beq. This has been covered by
the United
Nations. Many times people were taken for ransom. Similar stories were reported
in the Kurdish press. There have also been repeated
pieces
on Hashd targeting
Sunni Arabs in the area killing civilians and destroying homes. The retaliation
for the car bombing in October would fit into that pattern. The kidnappings
would too, but they also show signs of lawlessness within the Hashd ranks as
many were conducted for profit.
These events represented the new face of division within the
Tuz district. Before
2014 the main conflict in Tuz was between Sunni Turkmen and Arabs who were
drawn to the insurgency versus the Shiite Turkmen and Kurds. The Iraqi Turkmen
Front was also influential, which appealed to all Turkmen. That began to change
after the Peshmerga and Hashd freed the district from the Islamic State in 2014.
The Kurds, who had claimed Tuz as part of the disputed territories, but who had
largely neglected it before, asserted control over parts of the city. The Hashd
who heavily recruited amongst the Shiite Turkmen opposed them. Both were
thinking about Iraq after the war with the Kurds hoping to use Tuz as a
bargaining chip with Baghdad, and the Hashd wanting to thwart any expansion of
Kurdish influence. Ironically, both sides had close ties to Iran who has tried
to mediate between the two, but has not been able to stop these flare ups. At the
same time, the Sunni Arab population was still associated with the insurgency,
and was targeted by the Hashd as a result through attacks upon their villages
and kidnappings. As long as these tensions exist there will be continued confrontations
at points of contacts between the sides such as checkpoints into the near
future and likely past the war against the Islamic State.
SOURCES
Awara, Omar, “Shiite Militia Arrest Number of Peshmerga,”
Bas News, 10/27/14
- “Shiite Militia Groups Attack Kurds in Amerli,” Bas News,
9/18/14
Coles, Isabel, Rasheed, Ahmed, and Parker, Ned, “Special
Report: Their nation in pieces, Iraqis ponder what comes next,” Reuters,
12/29/14
Hawramy, Fazel and Harding, Luke, “Shia militia fightback
against Isis sees tit-for-tat sectarian massacres of Sunnis,” Guardian,
11/12/14
Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: Ethnic Fighting Endangers
Civilians,” 1/13/16
Hussein, Mohammed, Lacky, Shwan, Osgood, Patrick, van den
Toorn, Christine, “Shia militias skirmish with presidential guards,” Iraq Oil
Report, 5/9/15
Iraq Oil Report, “Multiple dead in Kurd-Hashid fight in
Tuz,” 11/13/15
Al Mada, “Iran contributed to the round table of views to
resolve the crisis in Tuz,” 11/16/15
- “The popular crowd and Peshmerga agree to a cease-fire in
Tuz and the formation of a joint force to prevent security breaches,” 11/13/15
Margon, Sarah, “For Iraq’s Sunnis, sectarian militias pose
an extra threat,” Washington Post, 10/24/14
Mojon, Jean Marc, “Behind frontline, Iraq town torn as
anti-IS forces clash,” Agence France Presse, 1/15/16
Rudaw, “Shia militiamen arrest Peshmerga near Kirkuk,”
10/30/14
Sadiq, Hoshmand, “Clashes Between Shiite Militia and
Peshmerga Near Kirkuk,” Bas News, 10/18/14
Al Salhy, Suadad, “The Ground Beneath Their Feet,” Newsweek,
11/25/15
Sotaliraq, “Salahuddin Council highlights the continued
burning of houses in Tuz and police chief heads committee to control security,”
11/14/15
- “Security source in Tuz announces renewed clashes,”
11/14/15
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Report
of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the
human rights situation in Iraq in the light of abuses committed by the
so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and associated groups,” 3/13/15
van den Toorn, Christine, Lacky, Shwan, “Shootout between
‘allies’ underscores Iraq divisions,” Iraq Oil Report, 10/8/14
Zeed, Adnan Abu, “Arab-Kurd conflict heats up after Tuz
Khormato incidents,” Al Monitor, 12/8/15
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