In June 2014 the Islamic State (IS) swept into the Tuz
Kharmato district of eastern Salahaddin as the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) fell
apart. Amerli, a small Shiite Turkmen town was surrounded in the process and
held out for weeks against the insurgents. In September Kurdish peshmerga, the
ISF, and militias launched an operation that freed the village. This then led
to the clearing of the entire district. Many Sunni residents fled in the wake
of the fighting or were forced out by the militias who considered them
supporters of the insurgency. Now that many villages are either abandoned or
being emptied a new conflict has emerged between the Kurds and militias over
control of the district.
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| (Wikipedia) |
Tuz Kharmato is a mixed area that is claimed by the Kurds as
part of the disputed territories. In urban
areas Kurds and Turkmen are the majorities, while in the rural regions
Sunnis and Turkmen predominate. There have been long standing tensions between
the Kurds and Turkmen who accuse the Kurds of hoarding power in their attempt
to annex parts of the district. Disagreements between the two sides increased
during the insurgent summer offensive.
When the ISF fled the Tuz district in June it opened up a
whole new slew of problems. First, the Kurds moved into the disputed areas when
the police and army disintegrated, but refused to protect non-Kurdish areas
like Sulaiman Bek and Amerli. They also disbanded a Turkmen police force. In
July a deal was cut, probably facilitated by Iran, that the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK), the major Kurdish party in Tuz would cooperate with Hadi
Ameri’s Badr Organization to free Amerli from its siege by the Islamic State.
That started in September with the ISF and militias moving in from one
direction and the Kurds in from another, which eventually saved the town.
Afterward, those forces would continue to work together to clear the entire
district, which was achieved by October
9. During and after these security sweeps the Kurds accused militias of
killing civilians they claimed were supporters of the Islamic State, and looting
and burning homes all in an effort to force Sunnis out of the district. From
September 16-17 for example, three Sunni homes were bombed. That same month a
grave was found with six Sunni men who had been shot. Up to 7,000
families were said to have fled in the face of these attacks. The
cooperation between the Kurds and militias would soon turn to competition after
the district was freed.
Starting in September there have been increasing reports of
confrontations and gunfire between the peshmerga and Badr Organization. September
19 Bas News reported that militias were stopping Kurds in the district.
Later that month some militiamen refused to stop at a Kurdish checkpoint, which
led to a scuffle. Badr came back with 20 pickup trucks full of fighters before
tempers were calmed. October 3 a car bomb went off outside a PUK office. The
Kurds thought a Turkmen had his car booby trapped by insurgents. The militias
wanted to arrest him, but the peshmerga stopped them. That led to shots being
fired and four people were wounded. Talks were held later to cool tensions. In
another incident a Kurd complained to the PUK that he was assaulted at a Badr
checkpoint leading to the peshmerga arresting some militiamen. Afterward, three
PUK officials had their homes bombed and a Kurdish neighborhood was hit by
mortar fire. October
18, the peshmerga fired on a Badr vehicles that didn’t stop at a
checkpoint. That led to a larger gunfight with one Kurd and two militiamen
wounded. Again, the two sides met to resolve the situation. Towards the end of
October another similar event
occurred when a Badr vehicle again didn’t stop at a checkpoint and shots were
fired killing two militiamen and wounding four. Badr retaliated by arresting
eight peshmerga. Two were later released, but Badr said it was going to take
the remaining six to Baghdad for trial. Finally, on October 30 Badr
fighters fired on a peshmerga checkpoint wounding two. Badr then tried to
arrest one of the injured Kurds, only to take away ten Kurds total. Seven were
let go, but the militiamen said they were taking the other three back to
Baghdad with them. The cause of these increasingly violent confrontations is
the fact that Badr is attempting to ally with the Shiite Turkmen in Tuz and lay
claim to their towns and cities in the district. This directly challenges the
Kurds’ desire to annex many of these same areas, which they say are
historically theirs. The fact that there is no real government authority there
given the security situation means that Tuz has become a lawless district. That
leaves the men with guns to fight it out over who will have ultimate say in the
region.
Tuz Kharmato points to the precarious situation of the Iraqi
state. When the insurgent offensive started some areas like Tuz Kharmato were
left to their own devices and that led to local forces to assert their control.
That is now playing out with the increasing rivalry between the Badr
Organization and the PUK and its peshmerga. Both sides want to create facts on
the ground that will leave them in control of parts of the Tuz district, and
that is leading to increasing armed confrontations. Even if the insurgency were
turned back in the rest of the country this dispute would not be resolved.
Baghdad is completely absent from the situation, and when and if it returns
there’s no telling whether it will be able to solve the situation either. June
changed more than just security in Iraq; it upset the working and political
framework of entire regions of the country.
SOURCES
AIN, “Tuz Khormato district liberated from ISIL terrorists,”
10/9/14
Awara, Omar, “Shiite Militia Groups Attack Kurds in Amerli,”
Bas News, 9/18/14
- “Shiite Militia Arrest Number of Peshmerga,” Bas News,
10/27/14
Margon, Sarah, “For Iraq’s Sunnis, sectarian militias pose
an extra threat,” Washington Post, 10/24/14
National Iraqi News Agency, “Joint Forces Liberate Five
Villages West of Tuz,” 10/1/14
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
van den Toorn, Christine, Lacky, Shwan, “Shootout between
‘allies’ underscores Iraq divisions,” Iraq Oil Report, 10/8/14
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