Kurdish officials in the town believe the presence of Shia militias contributes to the insecurity and violence.
“Due to our problems with Hashd al-Shaabi [Shiite militia] in the past, we were watching them all the time and paid close attention to others. Those behind the explosions benefit from tensions between us and the Hashd,” said Hassan Baram, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) official in Khurmatu.
Kurdish forces and Shiite militia have a history of problems in Khurmatu, located on the route from Kirkuk south to Baghdad. Deadly clashes between the two forces rocked the multiethnic town in April, killing at least 30 people. In May, a joint military force was established consisting of Peshmerga and Shiite militia to provide security for the town.
But there is a lack of trust between the two forces.
Shia officials reject the suggestion they are responsible for the lack of security and say that foreign hands are behind Khurmatu’s instability.
Abu Sara, one of the leaders of Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq, a Shiite militia told Rudaw, “Those who make trouble are not us. It is foreign hands because Turkey, Saudi Arabia and many others sent their spies to create fights between Shias and Kurds and they urge the parties not to pass one day with stability. So we do not understand why our PUK brothers accuse us of instability and problems as they know ISIS is behind the explosions. It is true that before there was a problem, but we made a deal and peace with the Kurds.”
“I think ISIS, seeking revenge for their failures in Pir Ahmed, Zanjari and Habw villages, is creating these explosions. We work together for the stability of the town because our religious and ethnic fellows are living in Khurmatu and it’s our duty to protect them,” added Abu Sara.
The PUK believes that part of the problem is the plethora of militia trying to operate in the town that is too small to accommodate so many diverse forces. “All those different armed groups are present in Khurmatu, causing instability in town,” Baram said.
“Khurmatu is like a diversified and colorful military base. Such a small district cannot contain all those brigades, battalions, foreign and internal forces. The Kurdish authority should try to expel those forces from the town and the security of Khurmatu should be handed to the security forces,” he explained.
The people of the town have suffered for so long and they just want the troubles to stop. “After 2003 we no longer had the Baath regime’s brutality around but then the PUK allowed the Shia militias into Khurmatu and now it became trouble for us,” said Jasim Muhammed, a citizen of Khurmatu.
Today three explosions hit Tuz Khurmatu in three different locations, at three different times. Two were killed and 12 wounded.
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