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Iraqi's Displaced by Islamic State Conflict Return to Kirkuk

Residents of Kirkuk have begun to return to their homes in the oil-rich city, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on April 2. Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a major offensive against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS or ISIL) in Kirkuk province on March 9, reclaiming several villages in the south and pushing militants from strategic oilfields by March 15, according to local reports.

The governor of Kirkuk on Wednesday called on the United Kingdom, Germany and Turkey for aid in dealing with an influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Voice of Iraq reported.

According to a recent report by the Brookings Institution, Kirkuk is home to the largest number of Iraq’s nearly 3.5 million IDPs. There are 350,000 IDPs living within the province, most of whom have been displaced by the conflict with the Islamic State.

This footage shows residents in a caravan of buses and cars, returning to Kirkuk. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty