International Crisis Group

Clearing the Landmines from Iraqi Kurdistan’s Future | Joost Hiltermann

This blog is drawn from a speech delivered by Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa Program Director Joost Hiltermann at the Sulaimani Forum in Suleimaniya, Iraq, on 11 March 2015. 

I first came to Suleimaniya in April 1991, only days after the Kurdish uprising was crushed by Iraqi forces. I drove up from Baghdad in the vehicle of an international humanitarian organisation. When we reached Suleimaniya, it was a ghost town. We found our way to the hospital, which was empty except for a few doctors who had stayed behind, and the first of a wave of victims limping down from the mountains. Some had horrendous injuries from landmines they had stepped on while trying to flee.

That first image of Suleimaniya has coloured my views as I have watched Iraqi Kurdistan grow and flourish over the years. Today, the region faces a new set of landmines, ones that if not marked and defused properly, could have dramatic consequences for the precarious region’s autonomy and unity as it faces new threats like the Islamic State (IS, also known as Daesh, ISIS or ISIL).

FULL ARTICLE (via In Pursuit of Peace)

Photo: Kurdish Peshmerga forces stand guard near the town of Makhmur, south of Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan after Islamic State (IS) insurgents withdrew. 18 August 2014. Reuters.

Source: In Pursuit of Peace