Security forces from the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) destroyed Arab homes and villages in northern Iraq over the past two years in what may amount to a war crime, Human Rights Watch said Sunday.

"In village after village in Kirkuk and Nineveh, KRG security forces destroyed Arab homes - but not those belonging to Kurds - for no legitimate military purpose," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director of the rights group. "KRG leaders' political goals don't justify demolishing homes illegally."

The New York-based group said in a report that violations between September 2014 and May 2016 in 21 towns and villages within disputed areas of Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces had followed "a pattern of apparently unlawful demolitions."

HRW called on Washington and other members of the international anti-IS coalition to pressure the Kurdish authorities to end the demolitions.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters are part of a 100,000-strong Iraqi alliance, backed by a US-led air campaign and supplied with German arms, that is battling to retake Mosul from the self-styled "Islamic State."

Promised investigation

Satellite imagery provided evidence of destruction in another 62 villages after Kurdish forces recaptured them, but researchers said the lack of available witness testimony precluded "definitive conclusions" in those cases.

Officials in the Kurdish region have stated their intention to absorb land recovered from "Islamic State" into their autonomous region and prevent Arab residents from returning to areas "Arabized" decades ago by Saddam Hussein. That's leading to inevitable conflict between Kurdish leaders and the Iraqi federal government, who are both part of the anti-IS coalition but whose historical disputes complicate the fractious alliance.

The rights group said it had presented its findings to the Kurdistan Regional Government, which announced an investigation and responded to some, but not all allegations. Kurdish authorities further claimed that much of the destruction was caused by US-led airstrikes as well as artillery fire and structures booby-trapped with explosives by retreating Islamist militants.

Some of the conclusions in the Human Rights Watch report are corroborated by a separate investigation by the Reuters news agency, which alleged that Iraq's ethnic Kurds were using the battle against "Islamic State" to settle old disputes and grab land in the ethnically mixed territory that divides the Kurdish autonomous region from the Arab-majority south.

The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State" Iraqi army discover mass grave While Iraqi troops advanced further into territory held by the so called “Islamic State” in their campaign to recapture Mosul, they found a mass grave which holds about 100 bodies, many of them decapitated. AP footage shows bones and decomposed bodies dug out of the ground by a bulldozer. This Iraqi federal police officer holds a stuffed animal he found on the site.

The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State" Evidence of brutality The grave, found near the town of Hammam al-Alil near Mosul, proves to be a dark testimony to the „Islamic State’s“ brutality. IS militants have carried out a series of massacres since seizing large areas of southern and central Iraq in 2014. This photo shows a member of the Iraqi security forces inspecting a building that was used as a prison by Islamic State militants in Hammam al-Alil.

The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State" Freed from terror These displaced Iraqi men from the Hammam al-Alil area celebrate their liberation as they return to their homes after the recapture of their village by Iraqi forces from Islamic State.

The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State" Oil fields on fire Oil wells have been set ablaze by IS in an apparent response to the ongoing military offensive to drive the extremist group out of its stronghold. A military commander said more than 5,000 civilians have been evacuated from eastern parts of Mosul and taken to camps. The surprise attack showed that even while under siege, the group could still sow chaos in parts of Iraq far from its base in Mosul.

The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State" What is the fight for Mosul all about? Smoke rises during clashes between Peshmerga forces and IS militants in the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul. Initially used by the "IS" to establish their caliphate and henceforth the key source of prestige and resources, Mosul is also the base for IS’s chemical weapon operation. The ancient Assyrian city also has formed a vital source of tax revenue and forced labor.

The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State" The role of the Iraqi army and its allies Iraqi special forces take cover as their unit comes under fire from an Islamic State sniper. Together with Kurdish Peshmerga and Shiite militias, Iraqi forces intensified fighting and moved into more densely populated areas of the city without air support from the US-led coalition due to the high-risk of civilian casualties.

The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State" Kurdish Peshmerga Meanwhile, Kurdish peshmerga forces decided to focus on other strongholds of resistance in northern Iraq and on the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, where IS initiated a campaign of violence in response to the advances of the Iraqi army towards Mosul.

The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State" Fleeing from the fighting The United Nations says over 34,000 people have been displaced from Mosul since the operation began on October 17, with about three quarters settled in camps and the rest in host communities. Author: Nadine Berghausen



jar/tj (Reuters, AFP)