False Reporting: Amnesty Int’l Allegations Against Kurds are ’Not True’

An Amnesty International report that accused Peshmerga forces of deliberately destroying Arab communities in areas under their control is a lie, Helgurt Hikmet, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Pershmerga in Iraqi Kurdistan, told Sputnik in an exclusive interview.

The non-governmental human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) published a report on Wednesday, stating that Peshmerga forces from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) bulldozed and burned down "thousands of homes in an apparent effort to uproot Arab communities" in revenge for their support for Daesh (Islamic State).

According to Hikmet, the AI report is fabricated and its authors were biased towards the Kurdish resistance forces.

"They [the AI allegations] are not true. The organization, which prepared the report, doesn't have any documentary evidence which would enable it to make such claims," Hikmet told Sputnik.

Peshmerga forces didn't destroy a single house in any of Arab communities. On the contrary to what the AI said, Kurds do nothing but provide protection to everyone in regions under their control, Hikmet added.

"Peshmerga forces don't discriminate against anyone, be it the Arabs or Kurds. Our region is home to about 2 million Arabs, and we provide their security at a high level," the KRG spokesperson said.

There are not only Kurds fighting for the KRG. Many Arabs and Turkmen fighters join Peshmerga forces to fight together against the common enemy — Daesh, Hikmet said.

The destruction of houses in Northern Iraq happened amid fighting between Peshmerga and Daesh terrorists, as well as a result of international airstrikes, led by the United States, in the area.

"Daesh put bombs in a lot of houses, which results in explosions. Also Daesh militants use the houses of civilians as headquarters and because of that anti-terrorist coalition planes are forced to throw bombs on them," Hikmet explained.