ERBIL - Instability has led to the vacation of at least ten Kakayi villages in Iraq since the first time the Islamic State (IS) emerged in the country in 2014, an activist said on Tuesday.

Head of Misra Organization for Yarsan Development and Culture, Rajab Kakaiy, told BasNews that there were 15 Kakayi villages in Daquq area, Kirkuk province, before 2014, noting that two of them were vacated when the IS group attacked them.

However, Kakayi residents of eight other villages left for other parts of Iraq after the October 16 events in 2017 when the pro-Iran Hashd al-Shaabi and Iraqi army overran the disputed areas.

There are currently only five Kakayi villages in the region, he added.

The activist further revealed that the Kurdish Kakayi residents of the villages are not willing to return to their areas because of the actions of the Iraqi forces.

The latest increase in the Islamic State attacks in those territories is another reason why the civilians hesitate to return to the vacated villages, he noted.

BasNews