ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Peshmerga ministry official condemned comments from an Iraqi militia commander who claimed that the Kurdish force has facilitated movement of the Islamic State (ISIS) in areas disputed by Erbil and Baghdad. Senior Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Ali al-Askari claimed in a Telegram post on Sunday that ISIS is “directly run” by the intelligence agencies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and said the Kurdish Peshmerga “facilitate” the movement of ISIS fighters in areas disputed by Erbil and Baghdad. “In Kirkuk, Nineveh and most of the so-called disputed areas, Peshmerga militants facilitate the movement and work of these criminal gangs,” he said, calling for “more pressure” on the Peshmerga to stop their alleged assistance to ISIS. The disputed areas lie between regions of Kurdish and Iraqi control and each side claims authority in these areas. The Iraqi constitution laid out steps to resolve the disputes, but has never been implemented. At present, there is a gap between the lines the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, and ISIS militants exploit this security void. On Sunday, ISIS killed 13 Iraqi federal police officers in Kirkuk. Baghdad and Erbil are working to close the gap. They established four joint coordination centres this summer to improve cooperation, and are in talks to form joint brigades. Osman Mohammed, head of the Peshmerga ministry’s media and national awareness directorate, condemned Askari's allegation. “We strongly condemn the comments of the head of Kataib Hezbollah’s security office. [They are] an accusation and injustice to Kurdistan’s Peshmerga,” he told Rudaw's Rawchi Hassan. “It was the Peshmerga that defeated ISIS and liberated areas… We as the Peshmerga ministry reaffirm that such statements do not serve the unity and peace between Peshmerga and Iraqi forces." When the Iraqi army abandoned Kirkuk in the face of ISIS advances in 2014, the Peshmerga entered the city and secured it. Federal forces retook control in 2017.
