By Hiwa Husamaddin in Kirkuk and Alexander Whitcomb in Erbil KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region – Hundreds of former Islamic State fighters have been arrested trying to cross into Kurdish territory, according to Kirkuk security officials. “Recently, many Sunni Arabs who were fighting for ISIS south of Kirkuk have escaped into Kirkuk using fake military and civilian ID cards to pass through the checkpoints,” said Sarhad Abdulqadir, police chief of the area surrounding Kirkuk. Abdulqadir’s forces had arrested these individuals, who admitted they had deserted ISIS forces and obtained forged IDs in Hawija. Some of them used real IDs taken from Iraqi Security soldiers. Some arrived with bullet wounds. According to security officials, 365 former members of the Iraqi police and military turned themselves into the Peshmerga in the Kirkuk area. “They have all been arrested under Article No. 4, the terrorism law,” said Adnan Taha, brigadier-general in the Peshmerga. “We are keeping them in the prison as they await trial.” A number of fugitive ISIS members had overdosed on pills or otherwise faked illness in order to be admitted to hospital in Kirkuk. “These fighters ran away to Kirkuk and each of them used a number of excuses,” said Idris Riffat, head of security of Kirkuk. “Some of them faked medical reports to show that they were ill, some dressed up as women, others posed as students in order to be let in into the city of Kirkuk. But our continuous security operations have foiled their plans.” Riffat also said that they recently captured many such individuals in hotels, checkpoints and hospitals. “We have gathered information about those who intend to sneak into Kirkuk and shared this with the checkpoint personnel, security, Peshmerga, and the police of Kirkuk in order to stop them,” he added. Defectors must provide elaborate excuses because Kurdish security officials have limited the traffic from ISIS-controlled territory. Transportation between Kirkuk and Hawija through Maktab Khalid checkpoint had been relatively easy until a number of explosions inside Kirkuk and along that road prompted local officials to close the checkpoint to most automobile and pedestrian traffic. “This gate is open again by the decision of the Kirkuk administration,” said Hiwa Abdullah, spokesman of the Peshmerga forces on the Kirkuk front. “However passage is conditional. Those who want to go into Kirkuk must be either from Kirkuk, or supported by a resident living in Kirkuk, or have a formal permission for the purpose of getting treatment in the hospitals of Kirkuk. Also, their stay in Kirkuk must be temporary.” Abdullah also said they have blocked all young people from entering the city, unless their names are registered with the security agencies or they were former police or military members who came to turn themselves in to the police. “But even these individuals will be arrested and turned in to the appropriate authorities for investigation,” Abdullah added. The arrests accompany rumours that Arab tribes in the outskirt of Hawija, Riyadh, Rashad, and Beiji have formed armed groups and have begun to stage attacks against the militant organization. Kirkuk security forces believe there is growing discontent following the brutal executions of tribal members who refused to pay taxes and abide by ISIS-imposed rules. Those killed included the administrator of Hawija, Ahmed Assi, more than a week ago. “So far we have heard lots of rumours, but there has been no official word and they haven’t reached out to us for help,” said Major General Rasul Omar Latif, commander of the Peshmerga operation room in Kirkuk. Citing the massacre of 322 Albu Nimr tribe members after the tribe’s rebellion against ISIS in October, “as well as atrocities committed against many other clans”, Latif said: “We think that the Arabs must help themselves and fight back.” “But they need to be assisted by the Iraqi government,” he added. “We need all the help we can get, and so do they.”
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