KIRKUK, Iraq: Daesh militants killed at least 25 people including a local Sunni tribal sheikh in two separate attacks late on Sunday in Iraq’s northern provinces of Mosul and Kirkuk, police and local officials said.
In a village near the Sunni town of Shirqat, south of Mosul, militants stormed the house of a tribal sheikh who led a Sunni militia that had fought against the militants, killing him, his son and two guests, police sources said.
Daesh, which had seized control of much of northern Iraq in 2014, lost Shirqat to US-backed Iraqi security forces supported by Sunni tribal fighters in 2016. However, a small number of militants are still operating in the area and are capable of launching sporadic attacks, security officials said.
In the town of Nijana, south of the oil city of Kirkuk, five members of one family were killed by militants who set up a fake security checkpoint on a main road. The family were Shiite Turkmens — a father who is an Iraqi soldier, his pregnant wife, his two children and his brother-in-law.
Local police said their five charred corpses were found inside the burned-out car, after the militants fled the scene. Two police officers accused Daesh militants of carrying out the attack.
Another passer-by was also killed inside his car during the attack, said police sources.
Iraqi security forces launched an operation last month to consolidate control of the Hamrin mountain range near Kirkuk, intended to be used as a transit route for Iraqi oil trucks heading for Iran.
Security officials say two groups of insurgents are known to be operating in the area — one formed by remnants of Daesh, the other, known as the “White Banners,” new and little known.
Iraq declared victory in December over Daesh, which had seized control of nearly a third of the country in 2014. However, the group continues to carry out attacks and bombings in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq.
Iraqi security officials have warned that they expect a new phase of guerrilla warfare from remaining Daesh adherents.
Daesh attacks kill 25 in northern Iraq
Daesh attacks kill 25 in northern Iraq
Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village threatened after record rains
- The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status
SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia: Perched on a hill overlooking Carthage, Tunisia’s famed blue-and-white village of Sidi Bou Said now faces the threat of landslides, after record rainfall tore through parts of its slopes.
Last week, Tunisia saw its heaviest downpour in more than 70 years. The storm killed at least five people, with others still missing.
Narrow streets of this village north of Tunis — famed for its pink bougainvillea and studded wooden doors — were cut off by fallen trees, rocks and thick clay. Even more worryingly for residents, parts of the hillside have broken loose.
“The situation is delicate” and “requires urgent intervention,” Mounir Riabi, the regional director of civil defense in Tunis, recently told AFP.
“Some homes are threatened by imminent danger,” he said.
Authorities have banned heavy vehicles from driving into the village and ordered some businesses and institutions to close, such as the Ennejma Ezzahra museum.
- Scared -
Fifty-year-old Maya, who did not give her full name, said she was forced to leave her century-old family villa after the storm.
“Everything happened very fast,” she recalled. “I was with my mother and, suddenly, extremely violent torrents poured down.”
“I saw a mass of mud rushing toward the house, then the electricity cut off. I was really scared.”
Her Moorish-style villa sustained significant damage.
One worker on site, Said Ben Farhat, said waterlogged earth sliding from the hillside destroyed part of a kitchen wall.
“Another rainstorm and it will be a catastrophe,” he said.
Shop owners said the ban on heavy vehicles was another blow to their businesses, as they usually rely on tourist buses to bring in traffic.
When President Kais Saied visited the village on Wednesday, vendors were heard shouting: “We want to work.”
One trader, Mohamed Fedi, told AFP afterwards there were “no more customers.”
“We have closed shop,” he said, adding that the shops provide a livelihood to some 200 families.
- Highly unstable -
Beyond its famous architecture, the village also bears historical and spiritual significance.
The village was named after a 12th-century Sufi saint, Abu Said Al-Baji, who had established a religious center there. His shrine still sits atop the hill.
The one-time home of French philosopher Michel Foucault and writer Andre Gide, the village is protected under Tunisian preservation law, pending a UNESCO decision on its bid for World Heritage status.
Experts say solutions to help preserve Sidi Bou Said could include restricting new development, building more retaining walls and improving drainage to prevent runoff from accumulating.
Chokri Yaich, a geologist speaking to Tunisian radio Mosaique FM, said climate change has made protecting the hill increasingly urgent, warning of more storms like last week’s.
The hill’s clay-rich soil loses up to two thirds of its cohesion when saturated with water, making it highly unstable, Yaich explained.
He also pointed to marine erosion and the growing weight of urbanization, saying that construction had increased by about 40 percent over the past three decades.
For now, authorities have yet to announce a protection plan, leaving home and shop owners anxious, as the weather remains unpredictable.
