ISIS Attack on Kurds Raises Alarm in Iraq

Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the independent Kurdistan Regional Government, paid a visit to a family whose three sons were killed by ISIS in an attack last week. This is the latest tragedy to strike the Kurdish region, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Thousands of trapped Kurds who ended up in Belarus, dying in the extreme weather while attempting to reach Europe, are also being assisted by the region. It also comes after the deaths of Kurdish families in the English Channel, another horrific tragedy in which families have lost daughters and sons.

Barzani hugged the victims' relatives and thanked them for their sacrifice. The onerous sacrifices, he argued, kept the Kurdish cause alive. "You make us proud, Peshmerga heroes." He stated, "We stand with you and will continue to support you. I'm humbled to be in Makhmour, where I'll be visiting the Peshmerga frontlines and mourning alongside the families of the three martyrs killed by ISIS yesterday night. I expressed my heartfelt condolences to the mother in particular."

The Peshmerga are the autonomous region's Kurdish defence forces. They've been fighting IS for seven years, and thousands of combatants have died along a frontline that once stretched nearly 1,000 kilometres. The organisation has been mostly crushed in recent years, but it remains a threat.

It is particularly dangerous in a location south of Mosul, below the Qarachokh mountain ridge. ISIS members in this area take advantage of control gaps between the Peshmerga and Iraqi federal forces, as well as Iranian-backed militias.