Ahead of Mosul battle, Erbil, Baghdad and Coalition form joint media center

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s defense ministry, the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces and the US-led Coalition have formed a joint military media center ahead of an upcoming offensive against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

 

“In a tripartite meeting among the Iraqi defense ministry, the Peshmerga ministry and officials from the US-led Coalition, a joint war media center was formed,” Halgurd Hikmat, the Peshmerga ministry’s media officer, told Rudaw on Saturday.

 

He said the purpose of the war media center “is to collect and provide military information to the media.”

 

The “jointly formed war media center consists of three offices; the Peshmerga media office, the Iraqi forces media office and the Coalition media office, through which will have cooperation during the battle,” Hikmat said.

 

He explained that he would be in charge of the Peshmerga media office.

 

Hikmat also said that Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani has officially banned all Peshmerga commanders or security officials from speaking to journalists. “Information and remarks should be published from this newly formed war media center,” Hikmat said.

 

Erbil, Baghdad, and Washington reached a cooperation accord in the battle for Mosul during a three way meeting hosted by Barzani on September 19.

 

ISIS seized control of Mosul in June 2014 when the terrorist group swept into a third of Iraq, and Iraqi army forces in the city melted away in the face of the onslaught.

 

Comments by military officials suggest that the offensive on Mosul will come sometime this month.