A Peshmerga commander told Rudaw that three Kurdish shepherds, who were grazing their livestock, were surrounded by six suspected ISIS militants in Duraji village, northwest of the district of Kifri, south of Sulaimani.
“The three shepherds were armed and resisted the ISIS militants. After an intense firefight, Peshmerga fighters and other security forces arrived to their rescue, and the ISIS militants fled the scene,” the commander explained. He added that “no casualties were reported in the clashes,” although “several livestock died due to the gunfight.”
The Peshmerga commander further noted that the rural area of Kifri district “has been a hotspot for ISIS militant activity,” and “the shepherds had ventured away from populated regions, so the militants seized the opportunity and attacked them.”
Kifri is part of Sulaimani’s Garmiyan administration and borders areas controlled by the Iraqi federal government. Both Erbil and Baghdad are working together to address the security vacuum between their areas of control to combat ISIS activities.
In early February, the Kifri district mayor told Rudaw that the joint deployment of Iraqi and Kurdish forces had helped curb ISIS activity in the area, which was once a hotbed of jihadist activity.
ISIS seized control of large swathes of territory in Iraq in 2014 but was defeated in 2017 after three years of fierce battles. Despite its defeat, the group continues to threaten security, especially in disputed territories spanning several provinces including Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salahaddin.
