Daesh kills 27 Hashd fighters in Kirkuk, says Iraq officials

Ali Mukarrem Garip

KIRKUK:  Daesh terrorists executed 27 Hashd al-Shaabi fighters captured earlier in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province, according to a Monday statement released by the Iraqi government.

“On Sunday evening, a Hashd al-Shaabi force was ambushed by Daesh terrorists, resulting in violent clashes that lasted for more than two hours,” the statement read.

A largely Shia fighting force, the Hashd al-Shaabi was incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces in 2016.

“Due to the large number of attackers and difficult circumstances, about 20 of our fighters were killed,” the statement added.

Afrasyav Qamil, a spokesman for the Kirkuk Police Directorate, told Anadolu Agency earlier Monday that Daesh had killed all the Hashd fighters that were captured following the clashes. According to Qamil, the bodies of at least 27 slain Hashd fighters were found by Iraqi security forces who arrived in the area in the wake of the clashes.

Noting that the Hashd fighters had been “brutally” executed, Qamil pointed out that the terrorist group had also managed to capture several military vehicles and large amounts of ammunition.

In a statement issued earlier Monday, Qamil had reported that “fierce clashes” had erupted between Daesh terrorists and Hashd fighters in the village of Saduniye in southern Kirkuk.

Kurdish region flight ban to be lifted soon; Iraqi PM: International flights into and out of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region will resume once the central government reasserts full control there, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider  told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle on Monday.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle’s Arabic-language television channel, al-Abadi spoke about the tense relations that currently prevail between Baghdad and Erbil, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)’s administrative capital.

“The people of the Kurdish region are a part of Iraq and fall within the scope of a united Iraq,” he said. “There was a referendum [last September] on the secession of the Kurdish region [from the Iraqi state],” he added.

“This referendum clearly failed and resulted in regional instability.”

“In order to eliminate this instability, we want to support our citizens in the Kurdish region as we support our citizens in other parts of Iraq,” al-Abadi asserted. (AA)