A leader in the Nineveh Mobilization, Nuzhan Al-Sakhr, revealed today, Sunday, the dangers posed by Mount Makmur to the security of Iraq's second-largest governorate. Al-Sakhr stated in an interview with "Baghdad Today" that "Mount Makmur is entirely unmonitored from a security perspective and represents a dividing line between the federal security forces, represented by the army, and the Peshmerga forces. He pointed out that all readings indicate it is a hideout for ISIS cells and we believe it is the main challenge facing Nineveh as a whole."
He added that "the districts south of Mosul are stable, but the issue of Mount Makmur remains present and needs a large-scale operation to liberate it and uncover its caves and hideouts because its danger increases with the forces." Al-Sakhr indicated that "the areas south of Mosul have not recorded any violations for two months, but this does not mean the end of the threat posed by sleeper cells," explaining that the popular mobilization forces are continuing to monitor and follow up with close cooperation from the locals in notifying us of any negative cases observed in the areas."
Mount Makmur, which is akin to a border point between the Erbil and Nineveh governorates, has seen disputes between the federal forces represented by the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga forces, the latest of which was a clash between the two sides over a dispute regarding the control of a security point that was abandoned by the armed members of the PKK. On October 19 of last year, the PKK announced the complete withdrawal of its forces from the Makmur camp located south of Erbil province after being present there since 2014 following the ISIS takeover of all parts of Nineveh and its incursion into other areas in Salah al-Din, Kirkuk, Diyala, and even the outskirts of the capital, Baghdad.
