ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday received a senior commander of the global coalition against the Islamic State in Erbil, discussing a range of issues, including the “ongoing” threat of the group in Iraq and the Middle East. The meeting between President Barzani and Major General Joel B. Vowell, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, focused on “ the security and military situation in the wider region, as well as joint cooperation and coordination efforts,” according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency. “During the meeting… an overview of the coalition’s work and activities in the region was presented with both parties acknowledging the ongoing threat posed by ISIS forces in Iraq and the broader region. The significance of sustained collaboration between the coalition, the Iraqi army, and the Peshmerga forces in effectively combating these perils was underscored by both parties,” the statement added. ISIS rose to power and seized control of swathes of Iraqi territory during a brazen offensive in 2014. It was declared territorially defeated in 2017 when its so-called caliphate fell as Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, supported by a US-led international coalition, claimed back land lost to the jihadists. Despite its territorial defeat, the group has continued to carry out hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions in several areas, particularly in regions disputed between Erbil and Baghdad stretching across the provinces of Salahaddin, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Nineveh. An Iraqi soldier was killed in Kirkuk province on Friday in a suspected attack by ISIS. The incident took place in Shay Valley in the Daquq district of Kirkuk province. The Iraqi government has said that ISIS is no longer a public security threat as the group has been confined. Baghdad is now in talks with the United States to wind down the global mission against the terror group in Iraq. Kurdish officials endorse the presence of coalition forces in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region due to the group’s ongoing threat.
