IS exploits disputed areas, sets Iraqi fields on fire
A rash of farmland set on fire, allegedly by the Islamic State, threatens massive economic loss and more internally displaced persons.
MAKHMOUR, Iraq — The Iraqi Civil Defense announced May 28 that 136 fires had occurred in grain fields in the previous 18 days throughout various provinces, including 59 in Saladin, 17 in Kirkuk and 15 in Ninevah. The Islamic State took responsibility for 13 of them.
Eight fires broke out in Kirkuk province on May 25, destroying crops. In the previous week alone, some 600 dunams of land planted with wheat and barley had been set alight by the militant group.
The peshmerga atop Iraq's Qarachogh Mountains pointed at a blackened stretch of what up until a few hours before had been wheat fields. "The fire started at 11 this morning. I only caught sight of one terrorist" as he fled, the soldier told Al-Monitor as the wind whipped wildly and the sun bore down. "But there must have been more," he added.
Grain fields have been set alight across Iraqi territory in recent weeks, with areas disputed between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) hit especially hard.
