Makhmour refugee camp guard killed in clash with Islamic State

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Makhmour refugee camp guard was killed and another three wounded in an Islamic State (ISIS) attack on Sunday afternoon, a camp official has confirmed to Rudaw. 

"Around 2 pm, a group of Daesh [ISIS] militants attacked our camp and we engaged in a two hour long fight with the attacking militants," Badran Khalid, co-chair of the Municipality of the Makhmour Camp told Rudaw English on Monday.

"Clashes between our camp guards and the attacking militants took place in close range, resulting in the martyrdom of a guard and two others," Khalid said, adding "a fourth person,  a shepherd from the camp, was wounded in the crossfire."

Two of the six attacking militants were killed, he added. 

This is the second attack ISIS militants have launched on the camp in five days, according to Khalid. 

"The first attack they carried out on Wednesday did not result in any casualties," he explained. "We just exchanged fire and they disappeared."

"There is constant fear in the camp caused by the Daesh militants present in the region and we are fully on alert repelling any attacks they launch," he said.

According to Sirwan Barzani, Peshmerga commander of the Makhmour-Gwer front, the fighting ensued after attacking militants attempted to steal sheep belonging to locals near the camp.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-affiliated Roj News published a 90 second clip purportedly showing the moment the two ISIS militants were killed, as camp guards chased the assailants into a cave on the outskirts of Mount Qarachogh while firing on them from several sides.  Camp guards can also be seen tending to each other’s injuries. 

Pshtiwan Bagok, an official from the Erbil Central Emergency Hospital confirmed to Rudaw English that "two of the wounded from Makhmour camp were referred to our hospital," adding that they were in a “stable” condition. 

Most of the 12,000 camp residents are Kurds forcibly displaced from their homes in southeastern Turkey by military operations against the PKK.

The camp’s armed force, the Makhmour Protection Units, was established in 2014 when ISIS militants attacked the area. Though located in Iraqi-controlled territories, the camp has its own governing council in charge of its administration. Both the governing council and protection units are believed to have ties to the PKK.

ISIS suspects kidnapped two Kurdish and seven Arab civilians over the course of Friday and Saturday nights near Tuz Khurmatu and Qaratapa, both in Diyala province.

ISIS took control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, including some Kurdish areas. Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga overcame the militant group with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, declaring them defeated in Iraq in December 2017.

But an ongoing dispute over territorial control and lack of communication between Kurdish and Iraqi security forces has led to a security vacuum in contested territories along the border of the Kurdistan Region. 

The group continues to maintain an active presence in Iraq, particularly in the disputed territories, carrying out hit-and-run attacks against security forces, abductions of civilians and officials, and bombings in populated areas.

Local and international security and diplomatic officials have warned of the group’s resurgence in both Iraq and Syria. James Jeffrey, the US special envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition warned on January 30 of the group’s comeback, estimating a membership of 14,000 to 18,000 militants.

As part of continuing operations against the group, Kurdish security forces on Monday announced the capture of a major ISIS militant near Kifri in the Kurdistan Region's Garmiyan area.