Daesh sets fire to cropland in Kirkuk

By Ali Mukarrem Garip

KIRKUK, Iraq (AA) – Members of the Daesh terrorist group set fire to farmland overnight in a village in Iraq’s Kirkuk province, police said Thursday.

The terrorists torched crops in the small village of Haftaghar, located 35 kilometers (around 22 miles) south of Kirkuk city, and attacked farmers who attempted to put out the fire.

“There was one killed and seven injured by Daesh terrorists,” Kirkuk Police Chief Ali Kamal told Anadolu Agency.

The Federal Police got involved in the hunt for the terrorists, he said.

Daesh attacks on farmers and agricultural land have increased considerably, with thousands of acres destroyed in the past 10 days, Kamal said.

“They burnt 800 acres of crops in just one day and ambushed those who rushed to put out the fire,” said Khiwa Sabri, a local resident.

The terrorists have been setting fire to crops for days, a major source of income for locals, as punishment for their disobedience, Kirkuk Governor Rakan Said told Anadolu Agency.

They have been demanding that villagers pay taxes or see their crops burn down.

In mid-2014, Daesh overran roughly one third of Iraq, including the northern city of Mosul.

By late 2017, the Iraqi army, with the help of a U.S.-led military coalition, had managed to recover most if not all lost territories from the terrorist group.

Although officials in Baghdad say Daesh’s presence in the country has been largely eradicated, the group continues to carry out sporadic attacks in Iraq's Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, Saladin and Anbar provinces.