SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi military on Monday entered Liheban village after Islamic State (ISIS) militants captured it in Kirkuk province on Sunday night, Esta Media Network reporter said.
Despite resistance against the militants, villagers in Liheban evacuated the village on Sunday night due to continued ISIS attacks on the area.
Esta Media Network reporter said a number of villagers had returned to the village on Monday morning and that they called on other residents to return.
Head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Sagaran sub-district Ramazan Osman said units of the Peshmerga forces had also entered the village.
Meanwhile, a unit of the Iraqi military entered the village.
Este Media Network reporter cited villagers as saying that Peshmerga and Iraqi commanders were in a meeting in the village.
Recently, ISIS remnants have increased attacks against civilians and Peshmerga forces in the disputed territories.
The militants have carried out six attacks against the Peshmerga forces in the disputed territories since November 27.
Four members of the Peshmerga forces were killed and two others were wounded in an ISIS attack on their frontline in Qara Salim in Kirkuk province on Sunday night, according to Esta’s reporter.
Three civilians and 10 members of the Peshmerga forces were killed in the attack on Khidrjija village in the foothills of Qarachogh mountain.
Eight other members of the Peshmerga forces were killed in the attacks in Kifri and Kulajo in Garmian administration, according to authorities.
Kurdish officials and analysts have long blamed a lack of coordination along a stretch of territory claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil for ISIS’ continued ability to wage deadly attacks.
The Peshmerga ministry said the militants continued to use a security gap between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces to attack the Peshmerga.
Islamic State controlled roughly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017, including the remote Makhmour region but also major cities including Mosul.
Iraqi forces, Kurdish troops and Iran-backed Shia militias defeated the militant group in 2017, but its members still roam areas of northern Iraq and northeastern Syria.
