TUZ KHURMATU, Kurdistan Region—The Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary group has formed an-all Kurdish brigade in Tuz Khurmatu and a major Kurdish party warns its members against joining the force.
“A brigade for Hashd al-Shaabi has been established, all of the members of the brigade are Kurds,” Faruq Ahmad, the head of the Kurdish Asayish security force of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Tuz Khurmatu, told Rudaw.
Ahmad claimed that some of those who have joined the new unit are members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
According to Ahamd, the new Hashd al-Shaabi unit is based in the village of Yafe.
PUK officials in the area have rejected claims of their members joining the Shiite force.
“We will certainly dismiss anyone from our party who becomes a fighter for Hashd al-Shaabi,” Aso Mamand, a senior PUK official told Rudaw. “There is Peshmerga in our areas, we do not need any other force.”
Tuz Khurmatu lies 88km south of Kirkuk and it is home to Kurds, Turkmen and Sunni Arabs.
The town saw violent clashes between the Kurdish Peshmerga and members of the Shiite force last year.
“There were attempts to establish brigades for Hashd al-Shaabi, but we stopped these attempts,” Mamand added. “Brigades for the Hashd al-Shaabi have not and will not be formed in our areas.”
The Iraqi parliament recognized the Hashd al-Shaabi as an official force in late November with privileges as the regular army, and allocated billions of dollars in funds in Iraq’s 2017 fiscal budget.
Last year’s clashes led to sectarian segregation in parts of Tuz Khurmatu, with many residents blocking entire neighborhoods with iron fences and concrete walls.
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