One resident of Amsha, a village near the province’s Domalan mountain range, told Rudaw villagers have reported the ISIS presence to Iraqi security forces, but nothing has been done to counter the threat.
“In the Kani Domalan Heights there is a void where the Iraqi Army is not present,” said Sirwan Mohammed, a local of Amsha.
“Daesh [fighters] are frequently spotted by people and we have reported it to the security forces but they check it without doing anything on the grounds that they do not have any order to act,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Locals have reported suspected ISIS activity near Dubiz, Pirde, and Shwan.
Three federal police officers were shot dead by “terrorists” at a guard post south of the Altun Kupri (Pirde) checkpoint on May 7.
Federal police in Kirkuk acknowledge the ongoing threat posed by the jihadist group, declared defeated in Iraq in December 2017.
“Due to Ramadan month, all forces are on alert inside Kirkuk day and night,” Afrsyaw Kamil, spokesman for Kirkuk police, told Rudaw.
“There are frequent movements from some groups of Daesh and other terrorists but our forces are ready to respond to any action.”
The rise in reported sightings of ISIS militants in Iraq’s disputed territories has become increasingly common in recent months.
In Makhmour, a disputed area which falls between Mosul and Kirkuk, residents report frequent interactions with bearded gunmen on the plains around the Qarachogh Mountains.
Similarly, militant activity has been observed in the Hamrin Mountains of northern Diyala province, where Iraqi Security Forces have launched a counterinsurgency operation.
In both areas, militants have kidnapped and killed locals and security personnel accused of informing on their movements.
A recent 21-minute propaganda film published on messaging app Telegram depicts militants executing at least seven Diyala village chiefs and tribal fighters who allegedly stood in their way.
The militants also murdered a member of the Kurdish security services (Asayish), kidnapped while searching for desert truffles near Makhmour, and torched crop fields owned by farmers who refused to pay the group.
In the aftermath of the Kurdistan independence referendum of September 2017, the Iraqi Army and Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitias launched an offensive against Peshmerga forces in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and other areas considered disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
The Peshmerga’s carefully cultivated human intelligence networks collapsed as personnel were forced to retreat. The Hashd forces which took their place have largely failed to imitate their success.
Nouri Hama Ali, head of the Peshmerga’s western Kirkuk front, told Rudaw the increased Hashd al-Shaabi presence in Kirkuk is having a destabilizing effect, even suggesting Sunni members of the Hashd are defecting to ISIS ranks.
“Most of those who used to be [members of] Daesh are now recruited in the ranks of Hashd al-Ashayiri with the support of tribal leaders,” he claimed, referring to Sunni groups affiliated with the Hashd.
Although the jihadist group lost all of its territory and urban strongholds in 2017, its remnants have retreated into Iraq’s deserts and mountains, where they have resumed earlier hit-and-run tactics of kidnap, ambush, bombing, and execution, aided by highly sophisticated sleeper cells in the cities and hinterland.
