This is not a movie, a TV series, a
novel or a comedy. It is a new tactic, a new military strategy practiced by the
militant groups in Diyala province, east of Baghdad, to attack Kurdish
populated areas discreetly away from the eyes of the security forces.
Armed groups in Jalawla, and Saadiya
districts of Diyala where only a handful of Kurdish families still live – the
majority fled for their lives – militants poison dogs of the Kurdish families
which are being used as their nigh time alarm system.
Because the dogs usually bark at the
sight of foreigners approaching the Kurdish areas, or in particular while
trying to place something suspicious. The use of dogs by the Kurdish families
was an attempt to counter attacks by Arab militants who have actively targeted
Kurds since the fall of Saddam Hussein in those areas.
To disable the alarm system, the
militants have also developed the “Kill The Dogs First” strategy. The militants
usually do so at night when there are no security forces around the
neighborhoods. They give the dogs poisoned food to kill them. Why poisoning
them and not just shoot them and run? Because if they shoot the dogs the
owners, or security forces might show up with their guns. But the poison
strategy silently kills the dogs without anyone knowing about it, and also the
poison takes some time to kill the dog which again gives the insurgents time to
prepare before they carry out the attack. If they just shoot the dog, not only
the owners or the security forces might appear, but also people will be alarmed
that attacks might follow.
A Kurdish citizen in Jalawla who
declined to be named for security reasons says that “this is an expected scenario
by the terrorists. A while ago, you wouldn’t stand the smell of rotten dogs
that had been poisoned and died in the Kurdish neighborhoods”. Kurdish
families in the disputed areas of Diyala province have complained of attacks by
insurgents groups and also accuse the Iraqi police in the province of not
protecting the Kurdish families.
In August 2011, Kurdish Peshmarga (security) forces
were deployed to the disputed areas of Diyala province in response
to complaints from Kurds living there saying they are under attack from armed
groups of Arab insurgents. A Kurdish parliamentary delegation to Diyala in
August 2011, found that since the end of 2010, some 500 Kurds had been killed in the
province by armed groups and over 1,400 families forced into exile
fearing for their lives.
According to reports by Kurdish
officials in Diyala, the series of bombings across the country, including
disputed areas in Kirkuk and Diyala, in late February this year, caused another wave of displacements for the Kurdish
families in Jalawla. “Since the bombings on February 23, some
170 Kurdish families have left Jalawla and left for either Kalar or Khanaqin
districts [mainly Kurdish populated districts] and they are currently living in
poor conditions” KDP’s Jalawla official told AKnews.
The official said since the fall of
the former Iraqi regime in 2003, over 1,300 Kurds had been killed by the
insurgent groups in the disputed areas of Diyala and over 1,700 families had
been displaced.
In
2003, Arab families made up 49% of the overall population whereas today, that figure has jumped to 77%.
In the meantime, the number of Kurds in the region has fallen from 33% in 2003
to just 18% today. In nearby Saadiyah the Arab population rose from 37% to
82% in the same period while the Kurdish population plummeted from 31% to
0.07%.
The Arab militants groups are not
only attacking the Kurdish families in the disputed areas of Diyla, but also
attacking any Arab tribal leader who has friendly relations with the Kurdish
parties. On March 3, militants had place two
bombs in front of the house of Talab Abdulkarim,
a dignitary who heads the Nada tribe, in the multi-ethnic town of Mandali in an
attempt to kill him. But eh bombs were disarmed.
Police said: “Abdulkarim is close to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK) [a major Kurdish party led by Iraqi president Jalal Talabani] and
therefore they wanted to kill him”
A second Arab ethnic tribal leader
has fled his hometown of Saadiya to Khanaqin because he had attended a welcome
part for the Kurdistan Region’s President Massoud Barzani who visited Khanqin
district – a mainly Kurdish populated district in Diyala.
He is now in Khanaqin and being protected by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
officials.
