The extremists were not victorious because they are powerful but because of the support they received from local Sunnis originally. Unfortunately they thought that the IS group would be a saviour for them but instead, on the ground, it's done a lot of damage to this part of Iraqi society.
NIQASH: There are all kinds of rumours about who is supporting the extremists as well as information about foreign fighters being part of the group. Do you have any information about the truth of any of these?
Hali: Our intelligence as well as evidence after clashes between the Iraqi Kurdish military and the terrorists has proven there are fighters from many different countries in Iraq. In terms of support for the group, I will not speculate because there needs to be strong evidence before such accusations can be verified. There are a lot of doubts about this.
I would also just like to say that I think the IS group – which says that it fights for Islam – has done a lot of damage to Islam as well as to Muslims worldwide, as well as to all humanity actually. They've also done a lot of harm to Iraq's Kurds and to Iraq's Sunnis. They are responsible for the destruction of infrastructure in Sunni-majority areas in both Syria and Iraq.
NIQASH: Do you have any idea about how many Kurds have joined the IS group?
Hali: I can't give you numbers but I can tell you that the Kurds who are currently fighting with the extremists are not all from Iraq – they've come from other Kurdish areas in other countries too.
NIQASH: A lot of people in Iraqi Kurdistan say that the number of internally displaced people now inside the region actually increases the risk of terrorism here. Do you agree - and if so, what is your department doing about it?
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