Kurds destroyed 'thousands' of Arab homes in Iraq - Amnesty

Kurdish forces have destroyed thousands of homes in northern Iraq in an apparent attempt to uproot Arab communities, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

The rights group said the destruction took place after Kurdish forces captured areas from the Islamic State jihadist group, which overran swathes of territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014.

Destruction and theft of property has been a frequent occurence in the war against IS, angering residents whose support security forces may need to hold recaptured areas.

"Peshmerga forces from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Kurdish militias in northern Iraq have bulldozed, blown up and burned down thousands of homes communities in revenge for their perceived support" of IS, Amnesty said in a statement.

The autonomous Kurdish region's "forces appear to be spearheading a concerted campaign to forcibly displace Arab communities," Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, said in the statement.

"The forced displacement of civilians and the deliberate destruction of homes and property without military justification may amount to war crimes," Rovera said.

Arab civilians who fled fighting have also been barred from returning home.

Amnesty documented evidence of "forced displacement and large-scale destruction of homes" by Kurdish forces in three provinces: Nineveh, Kirkuk and Diyala...
  AFP
=france24.com
20/1/16
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