Islamic State carries out another attack on Iraqi Kurdish forces

The Islamic State has attacked the security forces in Iraqi Kurdistan in recent days.

The Islamic State (IS) attacked Kurdistan Region forces and civilians in northern Iraq today, according to local media.

IS fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades at villages in the town of Makhmour. There were casualties among members of the Kurdistan Region’s peshmerga forces and civilians, the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported. The US government-funded news outlet Al-Hurra reported that eight peshmerga soldiers and three civilians were killed. The Iraqi news outlet Al-Sumaria reported three civilians died in the attack.

A US-led international coalition, working with Iraqi federal and Kurdistan Region forces, defeated IS in 2017. The group has continued to carry out small-scale attacks since then, particularly in areas disputed between the federal and Kurdistan Region governments. Makhmour is one of Iraq’s disputed territories between Iraqi federal and Kurdish authorities, and both federal and Kurdistan Region forces are present in the area. Makhmour is located about an hour southwest of the Kurdistan Region capital Erbil.

IS has conducted a particularly high number of attacks against peshmerga forces recently. IS attacked the peshmerga in the northern Diyala province on Nov. 27-29.

A report from the US Defense Department last month said IS is particularly active along the Iraq-Syria border.