Conflict background and armed actors in the governorate

Conflict background

Following the US-brokered agreement that put an end to the Kurdish civil war in 1998, Dohuk came under the control of the KDP, together with Erbil.¹³³⁴ ICG stated that Iraq’s 2005 Constitution

‘demarcated Iraq’s internal boundaries, establishing a federal Kurdistan region in Erbil, Dohuk and Suleimaniya governorates’.¹³³⁵ According to NCCI, in 2015, Dohuk governorate was not affected by the

1325 It should be noted that the last comprehensive Population and Housing Census for Iraq was conducted in 1987; UNFPA, Newsletter 2020 Census, December 2019, url, p. 1

1326 Iraq, CSO, 2019 ةنسل سنجلاو ةئيبلاو ةظفاحملا بسح قارعلا ناكس تاريدق [Demographic and population indicators, Estimates for the population of Iraq by governorate, environment and gender for the year 2019] (table), n.d., url

1327 USCIRF, Wilting in the Kurdish Sun: The hopes and fears of religious minorities in Northern Iraq, May 2017, url, p. 13

1328 NCCI, Dohuk Governorate Profile, December 2015, url, p. 2

1329 Iraq, Duhok Province, Demographics, n. d., url

1330 IOM, Integrated Location Assessment IV, 30 March 2020, url, p. 62

1331 NCCI, Dohuk Governorate Profile, December 2015, url, pp. 2-3

1332 Basnews, كوهد – لصوملا قيرط ليهأتب ة رشابملا [The Beginning of the Mosul-Dohuk Road Rehabilitation], 2 September 2019, pp. 2-3 url; Al-Naeem News, ةمدخلا نع هجورخ دعب كوهد–لصوم قيرط ليهأت ءدب [The Beginning of the Rehabilitation of Mosul-Dohuk Road after it Being Put out of Service], 4 September 2019, url

1333 UNDP, كوهد يف رارقتسلاا ناينبي ةيساسلأا تامدخلا ليهأت ةداعإو يداصتقلاا ريكمتلا [Economic Empowerment and Rehabilitation of Basic Services Secure Stability in Dohuk], 22 May 2019, url

1334 Hassan, F., PUK–KDP Conflict: Future Kurdish Status in Kirkuk, May 2018, url, p. 3

1335 ICG, Iraq: Fixing Security in Kirkuk, 15 June 2020, url, p. 1

ISIL conflict, however, ‘criminality, civil unrest and cross-border smuggling … pose[d] a limited but persistent security threat.’¹³³⁶ IOM observed in October 2017 that Dohuk, as well as the rest of the KRI, have enjoyed a ‘stable security situation’ since the beginning of the 2014 ISIL conflict, despite the Turkish and PKK activities in the governorate¹³³⁷, which according to Al-Monitor have been taking place since the 1990s.¹³³⁸ Additionally, ACCORD’s compilation of ACLED data for 2019 showed that Dohuk governorate came third in terms of the number of conflict incidents (390) following Diyala and Erbil. According to the report, incidents affected the following locations among others: Amadiya, Barwari, Cemanke, Chiya-e Gara, Dahuk, Dereluk, Gulkah, Haftanin, Kani Masi, Khantur Mountain, Metin, Metina, Sheladiz, Shiladiza, Sigiri, Uzmana, Zakho.¹³³⁹ According to the UN Inter-Agency Information and Analysis Unit (IAU), some issues remained unresolved between the governorates of Dohuk and Ninawa ‘regarding the administrative status of Al-Shikhan, Telafar, Tilkaif, Akre and Sinjar districts’.¹³⁴⁰

Armed actors

KRG-commanded Peshmerga

Security forces of the KRI are the Peshmerga, having 14 infantry brigades and 2 support brigades, and the Asayish intelligence services, in addition to KPD and PUK-controlled militias.¹³⁴¹ Most of these forces’ members are politically divided between the KDP and the PUK, to which they answer directly.¹³⁴² According to the Defense Post, ‘there are 14 Peshmerga brigades roughly evenly divided between the KDP in Dohuk and Erbil in the north of the region and the PUK in Sulaymaniyah, in the south.’¹³⁴³

Historically, Peshmerga fighters have been divided in allegiance between the KDP and PUK, and there have been several attempts to unify all Peshmerga fighters. The Ministry for Peshmerga Affairs was re-established in 2006. Currently, there are 14 Regional Guard Brigades (RGBs) comprising 40 000 KDP and PUK fighters, however, the command structure of those RGBs remain divided along political affiliations.¹³⁴⁴ Rudaw also stated that the Peshmerga was not ‘a fully integrated national force’, but rather divided between the two KRI ruling parties, with a smaller number of independent Peshmerga fighters operating under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. The source added that ‘both the KDP and PUK have their security and intelligence apparatus in the areas of Kurdistan Region under their control’

and that Dohuk governorate is under the control of the KDP.¹³⁴⁵ In addition to Peshmerga, each of the two parties maintained separate Asayish (internal security) forces and intelligence services.¹³⁴⁶ The Center for Global Policy’s map showed that the Peshmerga were active in Faysh Khabur and Zakho District as of 3 December 2019.¹³⁴⁷

On 9 July 2020, the Kurdish media outlet, Rudaw, reported that the KRG’s Ministry of Interior

‘deployed Zeravani Peshmerga to Duhok's Mount Matin […] amid intensified Turkish bombing against

1336 NCCI, Dohuk Governorate Profile, December 2015, url

1337 IOM, Integrated Location Assessment Part II – Governorate Profiles, October 2017, url, pp. 13, 37, 55

1338 Al-Monitor, Baghdad's row with Ankara could benefit each side, 8 July 2020, url

1339 ACCORD, Iraq, Year 2019: Update on incidents according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), 23 June 2020, url, pp. 4, 5

1340 UN-IAU, Dahuk Governorate Profile, July 2020, url

1341 US, USDOS, Country Reports on Human Rights for 2017 – Iraq, 20 April 2018, url, pp. 11-12

1342 ICG, Arming Iraq’s Kurds: Fighting IS, inviting conflict, 12 May 2015, url, pp. 8-11

1343 Defense Post (The), Coalition drives to build Iraqi Kurdistan’s Peshmerga into a self-sustaining force, 27 November 2019, url

1344 MERI, Institutionalisation of the Peshmerga: tipping the balance of Iraq’s stability, 17 July 2019, url

1345 Rudaw, PUK Peshmerga’s death in custody raises tensions with KDP, 21 January 2020, url

1346 US, USDOS, Iraq 2019 Human Rights Report, 11 March 2020, url, p.2

1347 Al-Hashimi, H., ISIS in Iraq: From Abandoned Villages to the Cities, 5 May 2020, url

suspected PKK positions in the region’.¹³⁴⁸ According to Global Security, the Zeravani forces are part of the Peshmerga and constitute paramilitary police. It is in charge of border security, protection of vital infrastructure, as well as other security duties.¹³⁴⁹ The Iraqi news agency, Gilgamesh, cited a Kurdish official who stated that the Zeravani forces report to the Ministry of Interior of the KRG and are affiliated with the KDP.¹³⁵⁰

Turkish forces

In recent years, Turkey has set up about 13 military bases in key areas such as Dohuk, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Zakho.¹³⁵¹ In July 2020, the Turkish Consul General announced that Turkish army military operations would continue in the KRI until the end of the presence of the PKK.¹³⁵² Following the June 2020 launch of the military operations Operation Claw-Eagle and Operation Claw-Tiger, additional military bases were erected to target PKK strongholds in northern Iraq and the KRI, particularly in Sinjar (Ninewa governorate), Qandil (Iran-Iraq border), Karacak, Zap, Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk (Dohuk governorate).¹³⁵³ According to Rudaw, the Turkish Presidency confirmed in July 2020 the existence of 37 Turkish military points across the KRI, including two inside the cities of Dohuk and Zakho.¹³⁵⁴ Other military points had already previously been erected in the towns and villages of Kuna Masi, Sheladiz, Amedi, and Zakho Valley in Dohuk governorate.¹³⁵⁵ A Liveuamaps map dated 8 July 2020 corroborates the existence of several military bases across Dohuk governorate.¹³⁵⁶

Iraqi forces

According to Rudaw, in July 2020, the Iraqi Border Guard Force 1 established bases in five strategic points in Zakho District to de-escalate the situation between Turkey and the PKK and to prevent losses of civilian lives.¹³⁵⁷ The deployment of the Iraqi Border Guard took place on 1 July 2020 and was coordinated with the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.¹³⁵⁸

PKK

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is a Marxist-Leninist group that was founded in the 1970s, launching an armed struggle against the Turkish government in 1984 and calling for an independent Kurdish state in Turkey.¹³⁵⁹ The PKK is on the European Union’s list of designated groups which have been involved in terrorism¹³⁶⁰, as well as being listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey¹³⁶¹, the

1348 Rudaw, New Iraqi border force bases stopping PKK-Turkey clash spill into populated areas: commander, 9 July 2020, url

1349 Global Security, Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Guard Forces (peshmerga), 10 September 2019, url

1350 Gilgamesh Press, انتاوق فوفصب عوطتلا ي برع نطاوم يلأ قحي :ةكرمشيبلا ماع ريما [Peshmerga Commander: Any Arab Citizen Has the Right to Volunteer in Our Ranks], 27 July 2019, url

1351 Shafaaq, American report: Turkey has set up 13 military bases in Kurdistan region, 12 September 2019, url

1352 Nina News, Operations Until The End Of The PKK, 20 July 2020, url

1353 See: Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey launches operation Claw-Eagle, 15 June 2020, url; TRT World, Turkey begins fresh anti-terror Operation Claw-Tiger in northern Iraq, 16 June 2020, url; Ahval, Turkish offensive in north Iraq extends beyond usual anti-PKK campaign – analysis, 22 July 2020, url

1354 Rudaw, Ankara has built nearly 40 ‘military points’ in Kurdistan Region: Turkish presidency, 7 July 2020, url

1355 BBC, اهفادهأو قارعلا ناتسدرك ميلقإ يف ةيك يلا ةيركسعلا دعاوقلا [The Turkish Military Bases in the KRI and Their Purposes], 29 January 2019, url

1356 Liveuamaps, Iraq, 8 July 2020, url

1357 Rudaw, Iraqi border guards set up bases in five 'strategic' positions in Zakho: commander, 2 July 2020, url

1358 Rudaw, Iraqi border guards set up bases in five 'strategic' positions in Zakho: commander, 2 July 2020, url

1359 BBC News, Who are Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels?, 4 November 2016, url

1360 EU, Council of the European Union, Council Decision (CFSP) 2019/1341 of 8 August 2019 updating the list of persons, groups and entities subject to Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, and repealing Decision (CFSP) 2019/25, 8 August 2019, url

1361 Euronews, Turkey slams Belgium court ruling that PKK is not a 'terrorist' organization, 31 January 2020, url

United States¹³⁶², and Australia.¹³⁶³ The PKK has developed its territorial presence and control over mountainous areas in the KRI including in the Zab Mountains, in Dohuk governorate along the Turkish border. Its PKK bases and populations are located there.¹³⁶⁴ Local officials interviewed by Rudaw in 2016 estimated on their part that as many as 650 communities might live under the PKK in the KRI, although some of the villages have been evacuated due to the conflict.¹³⁶⁵ From these areas, the PKK has launched cross-border attacks in Turkey, to which the Turkish Air force has retaliated with regular raids.¹³⁶⁶ According to one analyst in September 2019, the PKK is ‘considered as a major new actor within the Iraqi geopolitical scene’.¹³⁶⁷

Kurdish insurgent groups and Kurdish-Iranian opposition groups

Scarce relevant information specific to Dohuk governorate was found during the drafting of this report.

In 2017, it was reported that armed groups active in the KRI’s mountainous areas include Kurdish insurgent groups and Kurdish-Iranian opposition groups.¹³⁶⁸ These comprise the PKK’s Iranian offshoot, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistanê, PJAK), as well as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI, or in Kurdish: Hîzbî Dêmukratî Kurdistanî Êran) and its splinter group the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-I, or in Kurdish: Hizba Dêmokrata Kurdistanê-Îran)¹³⁶⁹, Society of Revolutionary Toilers (Komala), and the Kurdistan Free Party (PAK).¹³⁷⁰