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Situation Overview

In 2020, the numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to their area of origin (AoO) or being re-displaced for a second time increased, coupled with persisting challenges in relation to lack of services, infrastructure, social cohesion and - in some cases - security in areas of origin. The need to better understand the sustainability of returns, conditions for the (re)integration of IDPs and returnees, and the impact of their presence on access to services and social cohesion has been identified in the context of humanitarian and development planning. Ongoing planning around the closure of IDP camps, often within short time-frames, have also impacted these dynamics.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM)s Emergency Displacement Tracking recorded that over 8,100 households returned to non-camp locations across Iraq between 31 October and 31 December 2020, 6% of which were recorded in Kirkuk Governorate. Daquq District witnessed 1% of the returns in the governorate.

Markaz Daquq Sub-district

Markaz Daquq is a sub-district of Daquq District, located in the central area of Kirkuk Governorate. Kirkuk Governorate is one of the disputed territories between the Federal Government of Iraq (GoI) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) which might affect the regions reconstruction and the re-establishment of services, as well as the return of essential government workers to the area.

In the summer of 2014, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) undertook military activities in the district of Daquq, resulting in the displacement of over 23,000 individuals as reported by KIs. ISIL was dislodged from Daquq District in 2017 by the Iraqi armed forces and their allies. As of May 2020, ISIL operations were still recorded in Kirkuk Governorate villages, however this trend is decreasing overall. The IOM returns index suggests that populations in Markaz Daquq are still concerned about the re-emergence of ISIL activities. At the time of data collection, an estimated total of 2,748 households originally from Markaz Daquq remain displaced elsewhere as reported by KIs.

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Rapid Assessment on Returns and Durable Solutions, Markaz Daquq Sub-district - Daquq District - Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq, December 2020 - Iraq -...

By Sangar Khaleel and Jane Arraf

ERBIL, Iraq A rocket attack on the airport in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on Monday killed a civilian contractor with the American-led military coalition and wounded six others, including a U.S. service member, according to a coalition spokesman.

Several other rockets landed in residential areas of the city, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, including one close to the Chinese Consulate.

The attack, rare in the normally peaceful Kurdish city, raised tensions already heightened by threats of Iran-backed militias on American targets in Iraq. It was not clear who carried it out, but previous attacks have been attributed to militias funded and directed by Iran.

Iran has made clear that it intends to retaliate further for the American drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020 that killed a top Iranian general, Qassim Suleimani, and a senior Iraqi security official. Days after that strike, the Iranian government launched missile attacks against U.S. forces at the Ain al Assad air base in Iraqs Anbar Province, wounding more than 100 troops.

On Monday, minutes after the rocket attack on Erbil, the Kurdish regional government called on residents to stay indoors and the international airport canceled departing and arriving flights.

The United States military has drawn down the number of its troops in Iraq to under 2,500 and has pulled out of several bases there over the past two years. It says Iraq no longer needs the help it did in the past to fight the Islamic State, though American officials have acknowledged that militia attacks also factored into the decision to move troops to bases more easily defended.

The military side of Erbils airport is one of three remaining bases with a significant number of U.S. troops. It was not clear whether anti-rocket defense systems installed at the base were activated by Mondays attack.

The coalition did not reveal the nationality of the civilian contractor who was killed. The Kurdish ministry of health said three civilians were wounded in Mondays attack.

Kurdish counterterrorism forces said they had found the vehicle the rockets were launched from but did not say where it was discovered.

A little-known group known as Awliya al Dam (Guardian of the Blood) brigades claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had launched the rockets in revenge for the deaths of the martyred leaders. The group claimed responsibility last August for two bombings targeting U.S. contractor convoys carrying military equipment.

In Washington, a White House spokesman said President Biden had been briefed on the attack in Erbil, but offered no other comment or details.

Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdish Region of Iraq, said he had spoken with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken about cooperating to find those responsible for the attack. Mr. Blinken later condemned the attack.

We are outraged by todays rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, he said in a statement Monday evening, adding that in speaking with the Kurdish prime minister, he had pledged U.S. support for all efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible.

Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that the size and scope of the rocket attack on Erbil was unusually large, and that it had most likely been intended to maim or kill American contractors or service members, or their Kurdish allies.

This is a test of the new Biden administration to see what they can get away with, Mr. Knights said in a telephone interview.

Iraqi leaders have traveled to Tehran to try to persuade Iran to call off attacks, saying conflict between Washington and Tehran left Iraq dangerously in the middle. The embassy in Baghdad continues to operate with the ambassador and a small number of key staff.

Sangar Khaleel reported from Erbil, Iraq, and Jane Arraf from Amman, Jordan. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington.

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Rocket Attack in Iraq Kills a U.S. Military Contractor ...

A little-known Shiite militia group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

February 16, 2021, 1:42 PM

6 min read

LONDON -- A rocket attack targeting the American-led military coalition in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil killed a civilian contractor and wounded nine others on Monday night, according to a coalition spokesman.

More than a dozen rockets were fired toward the Erbil International Airport in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, with three directly hitting a military base housing foreign troops at the airport. The civilian contractor who was killed was not American, while eight other civilian contractors and one American service member were injured, according to U.S. Army Col. Wayne Marotto, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the American-led international military intervention against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier that one U.S. service member as well as "several American contractors" were among the wounded, citing "initial reports." He said he has contacted the prime minister of the Kurdistan regional government "to discuss the incident and to pledge our support for all efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible."

"We are outraged by todays rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region," Blinken said in a statement Monday night. "We express our condolences to the loved ones of the civilian contractor killed in this attack, and to the innocent Iraqi people and their families who are suffering these ruthless acts of violence."

Smoke rises from the northern Iraqi city of Erbil following a rocket attack on Feb. 15, 2021.

The Kurdistan region's prime minister, Masrour Barzani, said via Twitter that he spoke with Blinken about the "cowardly attack" and that they "agreed to coordinate closely in the investigation to identify the outlaws behind it."

A source at the Iraqi Ministry of Interior confirmed to ABC News that three missiles fell near Erbil International Airport.

Several rockets landed in other areas of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region. Another source told ABC News that missiles struck the affluent Waziran neighborhood, where some foreign consulates are located.

A roof is seen damaged in the city of Erbil after a barrage of rockets hit areas in and around Erbil International Airport in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region on Feb. 16, 2021.

The Iraqi Ministry of Interior released a statement early Tuesday, saying authorities -- in coordination with coalition forces -- had located the vehicle from which the barrage of rockets were fired on a street between Erbil and the town of Gwer. The attack killed one person and injured five others at Erbil's airport while wounding three people elsewhere in the city, in addition to damaging several homes and businesses, according to the ministry.

"Ongoing investigations will definitively confirm who are the culprits behind the attack, and we assure the people of Erbil and the Kurdistan Region that all those involved will be held accountable and brought to justice," the ministry said in the statement.

According to SITE Intelligence Group, a company that tracks extremist groups, a little-known Shiite militia group that calls itself the Guardians of Blood Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday night, saying in a statement: "We renew the pledge to our patient people that we will please your eyes with avenging the blood of the martyred leaders, and the American occupation will not be safe from our strikes in any inch of the homeland, even in Kurdistan, where we promise we will carry out other qualitative operations."

ABC News' Conor Finnegan, Bader Katy, Cindy Smith and Sohel Uddin contributed to this report.

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Rocket attack on coalition base in Iraq kills contractor ...

A volley of rockets targeting an US airbase in Iraqs Kurdistan region killed a foreign civilian contractor and wounded nine others including Americans in the worst attack in a year on the US-led military coalition.

The rockets were launched late on Monday from an area south of the main city Erbil near the border with Kirkuk province and also fell on some residential areas close to the airport, officials said on condition of anonymity.

The barrage was the first time in nearly two months that Western military or diplomatic installations were targeted in Iraq after a string of similar incidents last year.

The rare attack on Erbil was claimed by a little known Shia group calling itself Awliyaa al-Dam, or Guardians of Blood.

About a dozen such groups have cropped up in the past year claiming rocket attacks, but US and Iraqi security officials say they are front groups for prominent pro-Iran factions including Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq.

The American occupation will not be safe from our strikes in any inch of the homeland, even in Kurdistan, where we promise we will carry out other qualitative operations, the Awliyaa al-Dam said, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, an NGO that tracks online activity of armed organisations.

The United States reacted angrily to the base assault outside the international airport in Erbil, capital of Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

We are outraged by last nights rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

As always, the President of the United States and the administration reserves the right to respond and the time in the manner of our choosing. But well wait for the attribution to be concluded, Psaki added.

The US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi about the attack on Tuesday.

Blinken conveyed his outrage and sent his condolences to the victims, spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Blinken and al-Kadhimi also discussed efforts underway to identify and hold accountable the groups responsible for yesterdays attacks, Price said, as well as the Iraqi governments responsibility and commitment to protect U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq at the governments invitation to fight ISIS.

Late on Monday, Iraqi President Barham Saleh tweeted the attack marked a dangerous escalation and a criminal terrorist act.

Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the autonomous Kurdish region, condemned the assault in the strongest terms.

Coalition spokesman Wayne Marotto said 14 107mm rockets were launched near Erbil Airport in northern Iraq and three directly hit the base. He said the contractor who was killed was not Iraqi, but could not give immediate details on the victims nationality.

The airport is where foreign troops are based as part of an international alliance fighting the armed group ISIL (ISIS). It was reportedly shut down and flights were halted for safety issues.

Since Iraq declared victory against ISIL in late 2017, the coalition has been reduced to less than 3,500 troops in total, 2,500 of them Americans. Most are concentrated at the military complex at the Erbil airport.

Iran said on Tuesday it opposed any acts that harmed Iraqs security and denied suggestions by some Iraqi officials that it had any link to the little-known group that claimed responsibility.

Iran considers Iraqs stability and security as a key issue for the region and rejects any action that disturbs the peace and order in that country, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told state media. He condemned suspicious attempts to attribute [the attack] to Iran.

In December 2019, a US contractor was killed in a rocket attack on a base in Kirkuk province, prompting the US to respond with air strikes against Kataib Hezbollah. In March 2020, another rocket attack killed two Americans a soldier and a contractor and a British soldier.

Delovan Jalal, the head of the local health directorate, said at least five civilians were wounded and one was in critical condition, AFP news agency reported.

Barzani said he had spoken to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on ways to cooperate and identify the outlaws behind this terror attack.

I condemn in the strongest terms tonights rocket attacks on Erbil. I urge all Kurdistanis to remain calm, he tweeted.

Western military and diplomatic sites have been targeted by dozens of rockets and roadside bomb attacks since 2019, but most of the violence has taken place in Iraqs capital, Baghdad.

Iran-backed militia groups have been blamed for orchestrating the attacks, including the Kataib Hezbollah group.

In October, these groups agreed to an indefinite truce, but there have been several apparent violations since then, the most recent of which prior to Monday night was a volley of rockets targeting the US embassy on December 20.

The US under the previous Trump administration blamed Iran-backed groups for carrying out the attacks. Tensions soared after a Washington-directed drone strike that killed top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and powerful Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis last year.

Trump had said the death of a US contractor would be a red line and provoke US escalation in Iraq.

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Iraqi armed group vows more attacks on American ...

People inspect the area where one of the fired rockets was hit at Bahtiyari neighborhood on Monday in Erbil, Iraq. Yunus Keles/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption

People inspect the area where one of the fired rockets was hit at Bahtiyari neighborhood on Monday in Erbil, Iraq.

Updated at 10:14 p.m. ET

A civilian contractor has died, and a U.S. service member and five more contractors have been injured, in an incident on a base used by the U.S.-led coalition in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil.

The spokesman for the coalition in Iraq, Col. Wayne Marotto, tweeted that the incident was due to indirect fire, and that more information would follow. He did not identify the nationality of the contractors.

The attack hit the city of Erbil at night, people there heard explosions and sirens. Local media reported rockets fell in several areas in and around the city, and multiple people were being treated for injuries in hospital.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is "outraged" by "these ruthless acts of violence," and offered condolences to the Iraqi people and families of the victims. He said in a written statement that the U.S. will work with Iraqi authorities to hold accountable those who are responsible.

The identity of the attackers was not immediately clear, and American forces are often targeted by forces including ISIS, but American officials including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have blamed Iran-backed groups for previous strikes on US forces in recent years.

Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have played out on Iraqi soil.

In January last year, the top Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, was killed in an American drone strike in Baghdad, along with the Iraqi official known as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was seen as close to Iran. Pompeo spoke afterward of the importance of a policy of "real deterrence" against Iran. In the aftermath, Iran retaliated with a barrage of missiles targeting American soldiers on Ain Al Asad base in western Iraq. None were killed but many were later diagnosed with brain injuries.

In recent months, attacks targeting U.S. forces have become less frequent, but analysts and diplomats have suggested that Iran may now seek to test President Biden's administration in Washington.

The number of American troops in Iraq has been reduced, but there are still about 2,500 service members here.

Iraqi officials immediately expressed outrage. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in a statement called for an investigation into the attack. President Barham Saleh tweeted that targeting Erbil was a grave escalation, and undermined efforts to secure the safety of Iraqi people.

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Rockets Kill Civilian Contractor, Injure U.S. Service ...