ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga have reached an agreement on the positions of both forces in Erbil’s disputed Makhmour district after last month’s clashes which resulted in several dead, a senior Peshmerga commander announced on Thursday. Clashes broke out between the Iraqi army and Peshmerga late last month near Erbil province’s Makhmour town following the withdrawal of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from some military posts. The altercation was initially reported as a dispute over who should replace PKK fighters in the area, but Kurdish officials later attributed it to a “misunderstanding.” Sirwan Barzani, commander of Peshmerga forces in Makhmour, said that senior delegations from both armies met and agreed on a solution after the clashes killed four troops, including a Kurdish brigade commander. “We had a field visit and agreed on the exact positions to ensure better coordination for the safety of the area,” Barzani said on X. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani ordered the formation of an investigation committee following the clashes, though no results have been revealed. The Iraqi army has demanded control of three military posts in return for providing security for Makhmour Camp, which houses thousands of Kurds who fled persecution by the Turkish state decades ago. The posts that the PKK abandoned, however, are located within the jurisdiction of the Peshmerga forces as per a security agreement between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army’s Nineveh Joint Operations Command, Ghazi Faisal, head of a unit of Peshmerga volunteers in Makhmour district, told Rudaw at the time of the incident. The PKK withdrew from the area following Turkey’s repeated drone and airstrikes on the Makhmour refugee camp.
