Kirkuk governor meets families of peshmerga hostages

KIRKUK, Iraq

The governor of Kirkuk province, Najmaldin Karim, has met the families of peshmerga hostages captured by Daesh almost two months ago.

The meeting came Monday after the 17-peshmerga fighters, who were put in cages and displayed in different streets of the town of Halice by militants, were taken hostage during ongoing clashes in southern Kirkuk's Maktab Khalid area on Jan. 30.

Daesh had announced last week that the captured fighters would be executed on March 21.

Their families then called Kirkuk officials and the Kurdish regional government and asked them to act to rescue the captured fighters.

 Damaging action

The suffering families also warned officials that if they do not begin any rescue operations by March 23, they would launch "unimaginable actions."

Karim said the meeting was aimed at easing the families' worries and preventing any damaging actions being taken by them. 

The governor said: "We will try all ways to rescue the captured peshmergas.

"We have Daesh militants and their corpses are in our morgues and we are willing to barter with them."

"In fact, we are ready to save the peshmerga using ransom, if necessary. However, the bad news is that the bodies of militants are not valuable for Daesh,” he said.

 Families express fear

Karim stressed that a decision had been made that operations against Daesh to save the Kurdish peshmerga would be launched, but then it was halted over concerns they could be life-threatening.

The families had gathered in Kirkuk on March 19 and expressed their fears that the hostages would be killed on the Day of Newroz -- the spring festival celebrated on March 21 each year mainly by the country's Kurdish population.

Irfan Sheikh, whose son was captured by Daesh, spoke on behalf of the other families and said that neither Kirkuk officials nor the Kurdish regional government had "provided any information about our sons."

During the meeting, Karim also said Kirkuk officials were trying to deter families from taking any hasty actions.

Iraqi forces, backed by Shiite militias and Kurdish forces, have been battling Daesh since June 2014 when the armed group seized Mosul and much of northern and western Iraq.