Erbil, Baghdad, Washington reach agreement on Mosul

 

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Erbil, Baghdad, and Washington reached an accord concerning cooperation between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army in the battle for Mosul during a tripartite meeting hosted by the Kurdish president on Monday.

 

“Defeating ISIS [Islamic State] in Mosul was reiterated and deemed as a common objective of all the parties fighting the group. It was also discussed that there has to be cooperation between the Peshmerga, the Iraqi army and US-led coalition,” reads a statement issued by President Masoud Barzani’s office.

 

On Monday, Barzani led a three-way meeting in which high-ranking army officials attended. The US delegation consisted of Douglas A. Silliman, the US ambassador to Iraq, General Stephen J. Townsend, commander of the US forces in Iraq, and Ken Gross, the US consul in Erbil. The Baghdad team was comprised of Abul Amir Zaidi, deputy chief of staff of the Iraqi army, and a number of army officials.

 

“Details of the offensive were discussed and the attendants of the meeting agreed on mechanisms of cooperation between the three forces,” reads the statement.

 

Barzani expressed his appreciation for the tireless efforts of the coalition forces, Iraqi forces, and the Peshmerga. He said he hoped the agreed coordination between the three parties would “lay the groundwork for deepening brotherhood, friendship and trust among the all the forces,” that are collectively fighting one common enemy, ISIS.

 

The details of the agreement have not been made public as of yet.

 

ISIS seized control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, 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.