ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack on Peshmerga forces in Erbil province’s Makhmour town which killed 13 Kurdish fighters and villagers without mentioning the attack on civilians. The Liheban and Khidirjija villages in Qarachogh area were attacked late Thursday. When Peshmerga went to their aid, they were attacked too. ISIS said in a statement published on its propaganda channel on Telegram that its fighters attacked Peshmerga in Khidirjija village with submachine guns and RPGs. It claimed to have killed 13 members of Peshmerga forces while Kurdish officials have put the number at 10. It seems that ISIS has counted the three villagers - brothers who resisted the attack on their village - as Peshmerga. Three civilians and 18 Peshmerga fighters have been killed in the attacks conducted in recent days by ISIS militants in areas disputed by Erbil and Baghdad. The group has increased its attacks on Kurdish forces in these areas. Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited the family of the three civilians killed in the attack, telling reporters that the security gap between Peshmerga forces and Iraqi Army is to be blamed for the attack. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said through his military spokesperson on Friday that they and Peshmerga have to join efforts to fight ISIS. ISIS seized control of swaths of land in Iraq in 2014. It was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces. It is especially active in parts of northern Iraq that are disputed by Erbil and Baghdad, including in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala, Salahaddin, and Makhmour. Sirwan Barzani, commander of Peshmerga forces in Makhmour, told Rudaw’s Rozhan Abubakir late Friday that the US-led global coalition against ISIS has decreased airstrikes against the group “because the Daesh [ISIS] movement has changed. Now, their tactic is to carry out partisan war, and by the time the [war]planes arrive they will hide or go into the caves and tunnels.” He added that attacks against the militants used to be be easier as they go out in small groups now. The commander also said that “we have information that foreign fighters[of ISIS] are returning to Iraq from Syrian borders.”
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