Twenty-home village fully evacuated in west Kirkuk after ISIS explosion

A village in western Kirkuk has been evacuated after the Islamic State (IS) destroyed two houses in explosions that rocked the village on Thursday night, a Kurdish official said.

The village is called Awamr Jibbur in the town of Qara Tapa, some 18 kilometers (11 miles) away from the center of Kirkuk.

It is a predominantly Sunni Arab village, populated by Jibbur tribe, Mohammed Omar, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) office in Qara Tapa, told Kurdistan 24 on Friday.

He mentioned that IS militants have repeatedly threatened people of the village, which culminated in the destruction of two houses last night.

“Today [Friday], all the villagers of Awamr Jibbur decided to completely evacuate the village,” Omar added.

The village has 20 houses, and its people are mostly busy with farming and livestock.

Despite Iraq declaring ‘final victory’ over IS in December of last year, the group continues to launch insurgency-style attacks, kidnappings, and ambushes in the disputed provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salahuddin.

Concerns over insecurity and IS activities in Kirkuk and Diyala provinces have grown over the past few months as the jihadist group continues to carry out small-scale attacks and threaten people in the area.

The Kurdish Peshmerga forces were driven out last year following the Oct. 16 attack and military takeover of Iraqi forces and the Shia militias on Kirkuk. Since then, the area has seen an uptick in attacks by militants and sleeper-cells.

Source: Kurdistan 24