SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The families of Peshmerga who were killed in clashes with Iraqi forces in Kirkuk held a memorial in Sulaimani, where they asked Kurdish officials to open an investigation into what happened on October 16 when 26 Kurdish soldiers lost their lives in the city.
“These martyrs wrote history with their own blood. They did not commit treason. They did not turn their back to the enemy. They embraced Kirkuk, saying ‘we will never abandon you,’” Jamal Ali whose brother, a commander, was killed in Kirkuk, told Rudaw at the memorial service.
Some elements of the ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) stand accused of handing the city over to the Iraqi forces. They have rejected these accusations. The PUK has said it will conduct an investigation.
“We as the families of the martyrs ask for an explanation as to what caused the death of this group of Peshmerga,” Ali said. “We call for an investigation to tell us the truth about those who abandoned Kirkuk.”
He said the Peshmerga commanders who were stationed in Kirkuk should be held accountable, referring to one commander who he claimed made comments about daring the Hashd al-Shaabi to attack Kirkuk but then reportedly abandoned his post when faced with the military incursion.
Video: Family relies on DNA test to identify Peshmerga run over by Iraqi tank
Iraqi President Fuad Masum, a Kurd from the PUK, is now on a visit to the Kurdistan Region. He said he will visit Kirkuk on Monday.
“It is my duty to work to achieve reconciliation,” Masum said of his meetings in the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk. He added that his trip is not related to the Kurdistan referendum that triggered the military incursion.
Iraqi forces and the Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi took over control of Kirkuk and the disputed areas in a military operation that began on October 16, causing a wave of displacement as Kurds feared violence at the hands of the Iraqi forces. At least 60 Peshmerga were killed in clashes across the disputed areas in October.
While many people have returned to places like Kirkuk, Kurds are still afraid to return to the ethnically divided town of Tuz Khurmatu where they say they are being targeted by the Shiite forces.
Hundreds of displaced people from Tuz Khurmatu staged a peaceful protest in Kalar against what they described as daily attacks on Kurdish homes by a Turkmen group within the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi.
“A force that operates under the name of Turkmen Hashd have started burning, bombing and looting our houses, the houses of the citizens to this very moment are continuously being bombed, burned and looted,” read a statement from the protesters.
More than 40 days after fleeing their home and facing the cold winter weather, protesters said their priority is not aid to ease their lives today but the opportunity to “Return to our city with our heads high, instead of kneeling.”
Another protester stressed to Rudaw that they do not want war between the town’s Turkmen and Kurds, who have lived in the city as neighbours.
The protesters condemned the Iraqi government and the world for their silence.
Video: Inside Tuz Khurmatu: Kurdish homes targeted under Hashd rule
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