KHANAQIN, Iraq, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The mayor of the Kurdish town of Khanaqin in the north of the Iraqi province of Diyala said Wednesday Iraqi troops have no reason to be in the area.
Iraqi troops under U.S. supervision launched Operation Promise of Good in late July to target al-Qaida and other militants in the restive province of Diyala. Operations had been conducted in coordination with the Kurdish Peshmerga, but since their recent withdrawal, many residents claim Iraqi forces are targeting only non-Shiite populations.
"Baghdad should exclude Khanaqin from military operations because there is no al-Qaida in our city," Mayor Mohammad Mullah told Gulf News.
Operation Promise of Good faced harsh criticism when an elite Iraqi force known as Battalion 36 stormed the offices of the provincial security chief Hussein al-Zubaidi of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, killing his secretary.
Sunni lawmakers blame Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for supervising the battalion.
"The current problem in Khanaqin is that Kurdish political leaders believe Maliki wants to extend his authority to all regions of Kurdistan as he did in Basra, Maysan, Sadr City and Mosul," said Burhan al-Haideri with Maliki's Dawa Party.
