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Pressures mount on Iraqi government for liberation of Islamic State’s Kirkuk stronghold

 Pressures mount on Iraqi government for liberation of Islamic State’s Kirkuk stronghold

ISIS executed men in Hawija by firing squad.

ISIS executed men in Hawija by firing squad.

Hawija (IraqiNews.com) Politicians and locals’ pressures have mounted on the Iraqi government to carry out a security campaign to drive out Islamic State militants from the town of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.

Aljournal News website quoted Ahmed Khourshid, a member of Hawija’s mayoral council saying that some tribal representatives had given the Iraqi government a week before they launch an attack on the town. He said the representatives were planning a conference on Tuesday discussing the delayed liberation and means to press the government on speeding up action in that respect.

“If the heinous torture of our people by Daesh (Islamic State) terrorists in Hawija continues without attention from the concerned (officials), attendants will give the government a week before they begin liberation operations,” Khourshid stated.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Tamim, an Iraqi parliament member, said in a statement that people in Hawija were experiencing “a genocide”, adding that the town has not seen “any action by security forces”. He urged Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to hasten with the liberation of the town.

Islamic State members have held Hawija and some neighboring areas in southwestern Kirkuk since they emerged in 2014 to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq. Since then, the group has executed hundreds of local civilians and security members for collaborating with security forces or attempting to flee the town.

Hawija, Kirkuk (google maps)

The Iraqi government has said it wa going to target Islamic State havens in Anbar, Kirkuk, Salahuddin and Diyala once it finishes its campaign in Mosul, IS’s largest bastion in Iraq where security troops, backed by a U.S.-led coalition recaptured all but a handful of districts since October.

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