KIRKUK – At least 150 people escaped from Islamic State-held Hawija district to Peshmerga bases in Kirkuk late Saturday before being settled in Ala Gherin village.NRT correspondent in Kirkuk, Rokan Jaff, said Peshmerga commanders would not allow the group to enter Kirkuk city, the eponymous provincial capital.Commanders cited security concerns and said they feared militants could be among the group, which also included women, children and elderly people.
The group was taken to an area near Ala Gherin, west of Kirkuk city where three existing camps for displaced Iraqis have been established.
Hawija district lies 30 miles south of Kirkuk, and has been a militant stronghold since Islamic State overran large areas of northern and western Iraq in 2014.