Military build-up in northern Iraq
Tensions between the Iraqi army, its associated Popular Mobilisation Units and Kurdish Peshmerga are mounting since the former overtook Kirkuk in October 2017 and moved further into Kurdish controlled territory. The move by the Iraqi army forced the Kurdish troops to retreat to the pre-2014 borders and give up some of the disputed territories under their control. Since then, there have been a number of violent incidents between Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army or the PMUs. Both sides have been accusing of building up military forces around vital strategic areas.
In November 2017, Kurdish sources leaked 4 gigabyte of satellite imagery to Iraqi Oil Report (and other news outlets) on Iraqi defences north west of Mosul. The images showed a massive build-up of heavy weaponry in the area, including tanks, artillery, Katusha missile batteries and large calibre mortars.
IOR notes that “[s]atellite images also show that the KRG has dug a massive defensive trench stretching across the front lines south of Feyshkabour, from the Syrian border up past the Mosul Dam lake. The trench did not exist as of mid October, but it now stretches more than 40 kilometers long and is punctuated by fire bays every few hundred meters.”
Imagery by Planet Labs confirms this increase of Iraqi forces, in particular near Bardiye and Asilah, showing fortified positions and storage facilities between end of October and mid November. The imagery below from is Bardiye.
At the border with the KRG defense lines at Asilah, there are multiple mortar and artillery positions visible as well as other fortifications.
Military build up at Asilah Iraqi side
East of the village multiple fortified positions with mortar and artillery can be seen on imagery from December.
The IOR report only shows satellite images of the Iraqi positions, and it’s worth to look at the build-up of Kurdish defence lines in this area
Military build up Ayn Uways KRG side
Kurdish forces build up walls and defensive positions, as shown on the imagery below
Planet Labs satellite imagery confirms indeed a long wall and fortified positions from the Syrian border at Rmeilan all the way to the north.
South of Sufiyah
The walls is clearly visible on the images, with some examples from Sufiyah and the border town Mahmudia
South of Mahmudia
