Iraq - Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland on Monday 23 January 2017 Information on ISIS in Tuz Khurmatue and state response In November 2016 a report issued by Human Rights Watch points out that: “Iraqi Kurdistan has enjoyed relative stability and until recently strong economic growth in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, carving out a politically autonomous status for the region recognized in Iraq's 2005 constitution…Since 2003, the Kurdish sphere of influence has extended into the Nineveh Plains and Sinjar in Nineveh governorate, Makhmur in Erbil governorate, Kirkuk city in Kirkuk governorate, Tuz Khurmatu in Salah al-Din governorate, and Khanaqin and Jalawla in Diyala governorate” (Human Rights Watch (14 November 2016) Marked With An "X": Iraqi Kurdish Forces' Destruction of Villages, Homes in Conflict with ISIS). A report released in September 2016 Deutsche Presse-Agentur points out that the “…Islamic State extremist group…was forced out of Tuz Khurmato early this year” (Deutsche Presse-Agentur (3 September 2016) Suicide attacker kills six civilians in flashpoint Iraqi town). In August 2016 the Washington Post states that: “The ethnically and religiously mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu is…made up mostly of Turkmen Shiites, has a sizable Kurdish and Sunni Arab population. Since Kurds and Shiite militias drove the Islamic State out of nearby villages nearly two years ago, Tuz Khurmatu has been administered by the Kurds. But Shiite militias maintain offices in the town and control most of the surrounding villages. Front lines crisscross the area, and it is not considered safe to traverse them. In recent months, several suicide bombings blamed on the Islamic State have helped keep tensions high” (Washington Post (14 August 2016) For Iraq, the defeat of ISIS could mean new wars). In August 2016 the Education for Peace in Iraq Center notes: “On August 12, Peshmerga forces repelled ISIS attacks west of Tuz Khurmatu, a town 62 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk. According to Major General Abdullah Bour of the Kirkuk Peshmerga, nine Peshmerga fighters were killed and wounded stopping the ISIS militants” (Education for Peace in Iraq Center (18 August 2016) ISHM: August 12 – 18, 2016, p.2). A report issued in December 2016 by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq notes that: “On 16 June, the convoy of the Turkmen Shi’a Chief of Tuz Khurmatu Police was targeted by ISIL in an attack, in which the Police Commander, who was also leading the 7th Federal Police Battalion, as well as four other high-ranking officers were killed” (United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (30 December 2016) Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 November 2015 – 30 September 2016, p.6). No further information on this issue could be found among sources available to the RDC. References Deutsche Presse-Agentur (3 September 2016) Suicide attacker kills six civilians in flashpoint Iraqi town http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/legal/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=tr ue&risb=21_T25378827051&format=GNBFULL&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1 &resultsUrlKey=29_T25378827055&cisb=22_T25378827054&treeMax=true&tree Width=0&csi=144245&docNo=35This This is a subscription database Accessed Monday 23 January 2017 Education for Peace in Iraq Center (18 August 2016) ISHM: August 12 – 18, 2016 http://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/ishm-august-12-18-2016 Accessed Monday 23 January 2017 Human Rights Watch (14 November 2016) Marked With An "X": Iraqi Kurdish Forces' Destruction of Villages, Homes in Conflict with ISIS http://www.ein.org.uk/members/country-report/marked-x-iraqi-kurdish-forces- destruction-villages-homes-conflict-isis This is a subscription database Accessed Monday 23 January 2017 United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (30 December 2016) Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 November 2015 – 30 September 2016 http://www.refworld.org/docid/5885c1694.html Accessed Monday 23 January 2017 Washington Post (14 August 2016) For Iraq, the defeat of ISIS could mean new wars http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/legal/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb =21_T25378827051&format=GNBFULL&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrl Key=29_T25378827055&cisb=22_T25378827054&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi= 8075&docNo=46 This is a subscription database Accessed Monday 23 January 2017 This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Refugee Documentation Centre within time constraints. This response is not and does not purport to be conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please read in full all documents referred to. Sources Consulted Amnesty International BBC News Electronic Immigration Network European Country of Origin Information Network Freedom House Google Human Rights Watch Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre International Crisis Group IRIN News Lexis Nexis Minority Rights Group International Online Newspapers Refugee Documentation Centre E-Library Refugee Documentation Centre Query Database Reliefweb Reuters United Kingdom Home Office United States Department of State UNHCR Refworld .