Joint Kurdish-Shiite force to patrol contested Tuz Khurmatu

TUZ KHURMATU, Kurdistan Region—A joint military force consisting of Peshmerga troops and Shiite militia (Hashd-al-Shaabi) will provide security for the town of Tuz Khurmatu south of Kirkuk, after deadly clashes rocked the multiethnic town last month.

 

Kurdish military officials said the joint force is planned to prevent escalation of tensions between the armed groups and individuals in the area.

 

At least 30 people were killed and several others wounded in two days of intense fighting between Kurdish and Shiite groups in the ethnically mixed city 100 kilometers southeast of Kirkuk.

 

Over 55 percent of Tuz Khurmatu’s nearly 200,000 population are Kurds who share the city with Shiite Turkmen and Sunni Arab residents, according to unofficial Iraqi data.

 

“We patrol the streets together and have regular briefings,” Brigadier Hamid Ismail of the town’s Kurdish Peshmerga told Rudaw and added that the fighters shared the same facilities in order to strengthen the partnership.

 

“The joint force was created to make sure the tensions are not repeated here,” he added. “Our units patrol together and we even eat together.”

 

Kurdish peshmarga forces have been patrolling the city since mid-2014 after Iraqi army left the area ahead of the ISIS offensive.

 

In late 2014 Iraqi and Kurdish authorities reached an agreement to allow the deployment of Shiite militias to the city in what officials described as “protecting the Shiite population” in the area.

 

“We came from Holy city of Najaf and had not lived here before,” said Shiite commander Haidar Jasim. “We had misconceptions about conditions here but now we see that we can, in fact, work together,” he told Rudaw.