Shafaq News / Kurdistan Regional Government lnternational Advocacy Coordinator, Dindar Zebari, said, on Sunday that "irresponsible actions" by armed factions prevented the return of displaced citizens to the disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad.

"The actions of armed groups and the presence of ISIS sleeper cells are major causes of instability in the disputed areas", Zebari said in a statement received by Shafaq News agency.

He added, "those areas, especially Nineveh Plain, contain secret prisons. In addition, houses and properties belongs to those who had been displaced to the region, had been destroyed and burnt".

The government official added that KRG supports providing all facilities for the return of displaced citizens and the reconstruction of the region, but the irresponsible behavior of these armed groups prevents their return.

According to official statistics, there are more than a million displaced citizen in Kurdistan Region and other Iraqi cities, since the events of sectarian violence and until ISIS invasion of two-thirds of the country in 2024.