2023 Makhmour clashes

2023 Makhmour clashes
Part of Iraqi-Kurdish conflict
Makhmour mountains, 2020
Date October 22, 2023 (1 day) Location Makhmur, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq Result Ceasefire Iraqi Army and Peshmerga agree to share control of military positions in Makhmur[1][2]
Belligerents
Peshmerga	Iraqi army
Commanders and leaders
Saleh Zirari † Posho Khalid †[3]	Unknown
Casualties and losses
4 killed 5 wounded[4][5]	2 killed 6 wounded[4]

The Makhmour clashes (October 22, 2023) were a series of armed clashes which began between Peshmerga and the Iraqi army in the Kurdish majority town of Makhmour and its surrounding northwestern mountain range.

Makhmour camp houses Kurdish refugees from Turkey. It is located in an area disputed between Baghdad and Erbil and therefore characterized by a security vacuum. It has been hit many times by Turkish forces claiming to target the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). On the 19th of October, the PKK announced that it had withdrawn all its fighters from the camp and Iraqi troops were subsequently stationed in the areas they had evacuated.^[6]

The clash, which reportedly broke out in the afternoon,^[7] and lasted for around two hours before abating when commanders from both sides sought to defuse tensions, said military and Peshmerga sources.^[8] The commander of the 18th Peshmerga infantry brigade Salih Zirari, and his deputy Posho Khalid were among the dead.^[9][10]

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani called for restraint following clashes between the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the disputed town, and directed a high-level committee to investigate the incident. The decision was welcomed by the Peshmerga ministry.^[4] In November 2023, it was announced that the Iraqi Army and Peshmerga had come into an agreement.