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Kill The Dogs First
4.3.2012
By Raber Derayee
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ekurd.net
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March 4, 2012
DIYALA, —
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,www.ekurd.net
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.
Report by Raber Derayee, an independent journalist
from Kurdistan Region. A former Managing Editor at AKnews, he now works as a new editor for the same
agency.
Copyright
© 2012 ekurd.net. All rights reserved
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