ISIS seeks to win Hawija residents with supplies
A Kirkuk marketplace.
(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – Islamic State militants are trying to gain favor with the people of Hawijah, Kirkuk, with goods as a way to reduce their indiginance on the militant group, Alsumaria News reported on Tuesday.
“ISIS are trying to gain the sympathy of Hawijah people by giving out a bar of soap and half a kilo of lentil,” Alsumaria said, adding that people are shunning the fighters’ advances.
Alsumaria added that the group is possibly preempting any attempts by civilians to attack its members or locations.
The group’s so-called “Diwan al-Mal” (treasury), providing the supplies to citizens, urged them not to give ear to news about the fall of ‘the state of Nineveh.
The group took photos of the supplies to its sympathizers to give an impression that it provides food supplies to residents of the area, Alsumaria explained.
“Humanitarian conditions in the area are worsening due to hiking prices of food supplies, with all roads linking the area with Nineveh and Salahuddin cut,” Alsumaria added.
Hawijah fell to ISIS in June 2014, becoming one of its most important havens after Mosul. Many families of ISIS fighters have reportedly abandoned houses in the area they had previously taken over as Irai security and paramilitary forces advance towards the city to liberate it.