Iraqi Kurds Report Hundreds of ISIS Have Surrendered in Past Week

Fighters Flee Into Kurdistan to Avoid Summary Execution

Iraqi Kurdistan is reporting an influx of ISIS fighters from the town of Hawija flocking into their territory around Kirkuk Province to surrender to Kurdish officials. They say over a thousand people have come out of Hawija in the past week, including “hundreds” of ISIS.

Officials are presenting it as proof that the ISIS fighters’ morale is falling, and that they “no longer seem to believe in the cause.” in reality, there aren’t other ISIS territories in the area to flee to to keep the fight going.

Iraq isn’t accepting surrenders either, likely in keeping with the US policy that all ISIS fighters have to die on the battlefield. Kurdish officials say many of the ISIS are making the trek into Kurdistan to avoid ‘summary execution” by Iraqi troops.

The only territory ISIS still controls within Iraq is on the Syrian border, though ISIS has a presence in several other places around the country, and has shown an ability to carry out attacks with relative impunity in many parts of Iraq.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.