Abadi’s Clarifications Fail to Eliminate Kurd’s Worries

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter pauses during an operation to take the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar/Nov. 2015. AP
A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter pauses during an operation to take the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar/Nov. 2015. AP
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Abadi’s Clarifications Fail to Eliminate Kurd’s Worries

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter pauses during an operation to take the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar/Nov. 2015. AP
A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter pauses during an operation to take the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar/Nov. 2015. AP

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stressed on Thursday that his government would not wage a war against the Kurds, but his comments failed to eliminate worries among the Kurdistan Region residents of a possible movement of the federal forces towards the disputed areas between Baghdad and Irbil.

Early on Thursday, the Peshmerga forces cut off with sand barriers the two main roads connecting Irbil and Dohuk with Mosul. However, these forces reopened the roads at a later time on the same day.

Media official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Mosul Saeed Mamouzini told Asharq Al-Awsat that closing and reopening the two roads were due to the unusual moves conducted by the Popular Mobilization forces currently located in east Mosul, and at the division line with the Peshmerga forces.

Mamouzini said: “The Peshmerga had to cut off the roads for a couple of hours for security measures,” adding that armed members with foreign agendas were currently present among the Mobilization forces, who are trying to create problems and incite a strife.

The latest developments came after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) accused on Wednesday the Iraqi government forces for preparing a major military attack on Kurdish forces in the oil-rich region of Kirkuk and other parts of northern Iraq.

A source close to the Baghdad cabinet told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday the details of what happened on Wednesday following the claims.

He said contacts were launched between high-ranking officials from the government in Baghdad to decrease the level of tension.

“Kurdish parties called President Fouad Massoum to inform him about the menacing position,” the sources said, adding that the president then called the cabinet presidency, which issued a statement to denounce the accusations.

“The government calls on the Kurds to hand over tens of ISIS militants,” the source said.

“The Kurds do not mind, but they are waiting to investigate the fate of around 60 Peshmerga members kidnaped by the terrorist group and whose fates were still unclear,” the source added.

He said that the Kurds fear that the government’s requests to receive the ISIS militants are simply a pretext for an operation to control the oil fields of Kirkuk and other parts of Iraq.



Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
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Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)

A notorious desert refugee camp in Syria has closed after the last remaining families returned to their areas of origin, Syrian authorities said on Saturday.

The Rukban camp in Syria's desert was established in 2014, at the height of Syria's civil war, in a de-confliction zone controlled by the US-led coalition fighting the ISIS group, near the borders with Jordan and Iraq.

Desperate people fleeing ISIS extremists and former government bombardment sought refuge there, hoping to cross into Jordan.

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government rarely allowed aid to enter the camp and neighboring countries closed their borders to the area, isolating Rukban for years.

After an opposition offensive toppled Assad in December, families started leaving the camp to return home.

The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a US-based organization, said on Friday that the camp was "officially closed and empty, all families and residents have returned to their homes".

Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on X on Saturday that "with the dismantlement of the Rukban camp and the return of the displaced, a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine comes to a close".

"Rukban was not just a camp, it was the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert," he added.

At its peak, the camp housed more than 100,000 people. Around 8,000 people still lived there before Assad's fall, residing in mud-brick houses, with food and basic supplies smuggled in at high prices.

Syrian minister for emergency situations and disasters Raed al-Saleh said on X said the camp's closure represents "the end of one of the harshest humanitarian tragedies faced by our displaced people".

"We hope this step marks the beginning of a path that ends the suffering of the remaining camps and returns their residents to their homes with dignity and safety," he added.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since Assad's fall, after they were displaced within the country or abroad.

The IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services pose the greatest challenge" for those returning home.