Iraqi government forming Shiite militias in Kirkuk

KIRKUK - The Iraqi government has started forming three brigades of Shiite militias in the Kirkuk region under the directive from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

The decision came a week after an official visit to Kirkuk by Falih Fayadh, Iraq’s National Security Advisor.

Iraqi officials said that Baghdad aims to form six brigades of National Guards in Kirkuk that would include the province’s various ethnic groups.

Each group -- Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen -- would make up 32 percent of the National Guard.

Turkmen leaders have asked the Iraqi government to help them form their own armed group inside the city.

“The militia groups protect our area but we want our own armed group inside the city, though legally,” said Omar Yauz, a Turkman member of the Kirkuk security committee.

But the Kurdish parties in the province are opposed to the formation or presence of any militia or armed groups in the area.

However, they approve of official groups, “On condition that they operate under the control of the Peshmerga forces.”

“The Peshmerga forces are here and will not relinquish this area to any other force,” said Wasta Rasul, the Peshmerga commander of the Kirkuk region.

“Any force that is formed will be under the command of the Kurdish Peshmerga,” he added.

For their part, the Arab community seeks its own force under the Iraqi ministry of defense.

“We want our force but we want the Iraqi defense ministry to do it for us because it will guarantee the liberation of this region,” said Ismail Hadidi, the chief of the Hadidi tribe.

The Iraqi government plans to organize -- under a single command -- a force of around 9,000 Shiite militiamen who are believed to be operating in areas south of Kirkuk, particularly in Tuz Khurmatu.