Ethnic politics in Ninawa

The district of Makhmour is one of the predominantly Kurdish districts in Ninawa Province whose administration recently announced a boycott of the new provincial government. As tensions continue to rise in the area, Kurds have threatened severe consequences if the new governor, Atheel al-Najifi, visits the district.

On April 13, the district which is located 115 km from the province’s capital city, Mosul, and has a population of 173,000 people, announced its boycott of the provincial administration dominated by the Sunni nationalist Hadbaa list, as did the districts of Shikhan and Sinjar.