ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish farmers living near disputed territories have complained that Iraqi forces are preventing them accessing their fields. The farmers in Kifri, Diyala province told Rudaw that for three months they have not been allowed to pass through a checkpoint in the area where Kurdish and Iraqi forces are jostling for control. In mid-July, the Iraqi army deployed forces in close proximity to Kifri town to curb Islamic State (ISIS) activities in the area. Kifri is administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Iraqi and Peshmerga forces agreed to jointly run the Karez checkpoint, just two kilometres from Kifri that had been controlled exclusively by the Peshmerga since 2003. But farmers living in Kifri say Iraqi forces do not allow them to pass through the checkpoint to access their fields. They collectively own some 625 acres of farmland, according to local authorities. "After they [Iraqi armed forces] established their foothold in the area, they retook all the authority and powers from the Kurdish police and Asayesh [security] forces. They wield all the authority in the region," farmer Khalil Ibrahim, told Rudaw on Sunday. "They do not allow any materials to pass through the checkpoint." "Before the army came in, we used to move freely and commute any time we wanted, like 12am, one, or two in the morning. It was very normal for farmers to return home any time," he said. Now, farmers must travel on side roads or off road to tend their crops. Kifri town is located 188 kilometers southeast of Erbil, near Tuz Khurmatu and Kalar. As part of the Garmiyan bloc, it has been under KRG control since 1991. Truck drivers say they are also prevented from commuting between Kifri and the towns of Tuz Khurmatu and Qaratapa. "They do not let anything pass," said Ghasan Ali, speaking to Rudaw's Halo Mohammed on a dirt road he took to avoid the Karez checkpoint. "We use the village roads," the trucker said. An Iraqi army official at the Karez checkpoint declined to comment for this report. When the Iraqi forces moved into the area in July, the KRG’s Peshmerga ministry accused the federal troops of establishing posts without their agreement or coordination. The area, disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, has become a fertile breeding ground for ISIS to regroup due to an absence of security forces in the area. The Peshmerga ministry has been in talks with their Iraqi counterparts in order to fill this security void. They reached an agreement in early July to resume joint military work in the disputed territories in order to prevent an ISIS resurgence. At a recent meeting between Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, the Kurds told the federal forces they would not tolerate checkpoint preventing movement of the local population. "We spoke about the problems and issues that still exist between us and the agreement that we signed previously with them on the Karez checkpoint to jointly run it," Mohammed Siyasi, deputy head of the Peshmerga Qaratapa frontline, told Rudaw, adding that the Iraqi forces have not shown "goodwill." Siyasi said they will raise the problem again in an upcoming meeting in Baghdad. ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017. However, remnants of the group continue to operate in the disputed territories, returning to earlier insurgency tactics including ambushes, kidnappings and targeted killings.
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