“The situation in Bashiqa is satisfactory for us now because the town calm and residents will be able to return by November 17,” Mohammed Haji Mahmood, known as Kaka Hama, told Rudaw.
Kurdish authorities are “working hard to restore services to the town and allow administrative units, including the police directorate and municipality, to resume work as soon as possible,” he added.
Bomb disposal engineers “are also working to defuse bombs and other remains that ISIS has left behind" he said, warning at the same time that “there could still be a wounded militant hiding somewhere.”
Bashiqa, only 20 kilometers northeast of central Mosul, had a diverse population of majority Yezidi- and Shabak-Kurds. There were also minorities of Assyrians and Arabs. Because of its multi-cultural and multi-ethnic composition Bashiqa was sometimes referred to as “little Iraq.”
Kaka Hama said that the Peshmerga will not be withdrawing from Bashiqa. Instead, they have been “fortifying their positions around the town by digging trenches,” he explained.
After surrounding the town for two weeks, Peshmerga forces retook Bashiqa on Monday, though they continued to have sporadic clashes with the last remaining militants in the town through Thursday.
Kurdish President Masoud Barzani said Wednesday that the liberation of Bashiqa meant that ISIS no longer poses a threat to the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
