ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A large number of Iraqi army troops and vehicles were deployed to Kirkuk’s disputed Newroz neighborhood in the early hours of Sunday, seeking to forcibly expel several Kurdish families from their homes.

The forces entered the neighborhood a day earlier, telling the residents of at least five houses that they had 24 hours to vacate the properties, claiming the neighborhood is the official property of the defense ministry.

At least three houses have already been seized by the Iraqi forces as of the writing of this article, according to The New Region’s correspondent.

One of the properties was reportedly taken over while its occupants were away at a nearby relative’s house for Suhoor — the meal Muslims consume in the mornings of Ramadan.

“I am staying here. There is no way I am leaving,” Ayub Salahaddin, the owner of one of the houses, told The New Region on Saturday, stating that his family had resided on the property for over 20 years.

This is not the first time the Iraqi army has aimed to seize properties in Newroz. In early 2024, a similar force was stationed in the Kurdish-majority neighborhood for several weeks, during which they seized multiple Kurdish homes and ordered the families to vacate.

Dilan Ghafour, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) member of parliament, condemned the Iraqi army’s actions in Newroz, calling them “illegal and unacceptable,” and stressing that they will strongly oppose it.

“We are in contact with the relevant authorities to address this problem, and we also call on the Prime Minister, Mr. Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, to intervene urgently to put an end to the violations and restore stability to the neighborhood,” wrote Ghafour in a statement.

Similar attempts have been made against Kurdish properties in Kirkuk since October 2017.

The Iraqi army in February last year attacked a number of Kurdish farmers, preventing them from cultivating their lands in northern Kirkuk’s Sargaran subdistrict. The attack prompted condemnations from Kurdish leaders, with President Masoud Barzani labeling it a “chauvinistic” act.

The land restitution law, ratified by the Iraqi presidency in February 2025, seeks to address property disputes stemming from resolutions enacted during the Baath regime’s Revolutionary Command Council era. The regime transferred the ownership of hundreds of Kurdish and Turkmen properties in Kirkuk to the defense ministry and the municipality starting from the 1970s.