MESOP IN DEPTH : IS Insurgents Reveal the Reason behind the Attacks on Kurdistan Region

13.08.2014 – BasNews, Erbil – Social media accounts of Islamic State (IS) militants reveal that one of the reasons for IS’ change of attack to Peshmerga forces was to take back those lands that the militants did not feel rightly belonged to the Kurds.

According to various Islamic State media outlets, after the militants took control of Mosul on 9 June, Peshmerga forces were able to acquire 40 per cent of disputed territories as they defended Kurdish borders. This success for the Peshmerga was the first geographic change since the liberation of Iraq in 2003 but was a major blow to the Sunni militants.

The IS has given detailed explanations for the takeover of various Kurdish regions which point to their desire for land believed to be part of their new caliphate. “IS militants began an attack at the start of August on the Kurdistan Region that still continuous. Ultimately, the Kurdistan Region lost control of some areas in northwestern Iraq that they had acquired after the 2003 outlining of Article 140. The Kurds then gained a larger swathe of Iraqi territory after the federal army’s flight at the beginning of June, only to lose it again as Islamic State militants moved in.” As a result of this tug-of-war, the borders of the Kurdistan Region returned to those that were signed and determined in the Algeria Agreement of 1975. The IS statement also declares that “Peshmerga forces entered Jalawla town in Diyala Province, which is not a part of the Kurdistan Region. This led IS insurgents to delay their attack on Baquba, an event resulting in the persecution and torture of many Sunni people.” They mention that Kurdish Peshmerga controlled many areas close to the border of Nineveh Province, but after IS militants’ invasion of Zumar, Rabia and Sinjar, the Peshmerga was forced back once more, effectively prolonging the dispute for land.