The Iraqi defense ministry and Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs agreed this week to establish three joint coordination rooms between the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga forces to eliminate remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) still present in disputed areas. Contention over the areas has led to a security vacuum conducive to a resurgence of ISIS.
“The Iraqi defense ministry and Peshmerga ministry are continuing their meetings to fill the security gap in the disputed areas, that can reach to 13 km square in some areas,” Brigadier General Yehia Rasool, spokesperson of Iraqi Commander-in-Chief told Rudaw TV.
Rasool also explained that cooperation between Peshmerga forces and Iraqi security forces is necessary to “exchange information regarding ISIS sleeper cells in the disputed areas.”
“There might be [future] joint ground operation by Peshmerga and Iraqi forces against ISIS in the area as well,” Rasool added.
Iraqi Army Chief of Staff Lie. Gen. Abdul Amir Rashid Yarallah said in an interview with Iraqi state-media on Tuesday that the new joint coordination rooms will bring “safety” back to Kirkuk province.
A delegation from the Ministry of Peshmerga visited the province on July 2, where members met Iraqi defense and interior ministry officials and an Iraqi federal police team, according to a tweet by Rasool.
Jabar Yawar, the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs’ Chief of Staff, told Rudaw Thursday that the Peshmerga delegation talked through a number of security-related matters with the Iraqi defense ministry.
“We have discussed three issues in our meetings with the Iraqi defense ministry, first the joint cooperation rooms, secondly the positions of Peshmerga forces and Iraqi forces positions from Khanaqin to Sinjar,” Yawar said. “The third is conducting joint operations against ISIS.”
Rasool announced Monday that Iraqi force-Peshmerga coordination rooms would be established in Kirkuk, Diyala and Nineveh provinces - territories disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
However, the Commander-in-Chief spokesperson stressed that Peshmerga forces would not be redeployed to Kirkuk, from where they were removed by Iraqi security forces in October 2017.
Yawar reiterated that Peshmerga forces are already in control of some of the areas in the disputed territories.
“Peshmerga forces are currently in control of many areas in the disputed territories, including Tuz-Khurmatu, Qarahanjir, Sheikh Bziny, Makhmour, and areas in Nineveh plain,” Yawar said.
ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017. However, remnants of the group continue to operate in the disputed territories, returning to earlier insurgency tactics including ambushes, kidnappings and targeted killings.
Operations to entirely clear their presence from the area have failed, and military bodies worldwide have warned the group is resurging in several locations.
Several Kakai villagers were killed in an ISIS attack in Khanaqin, Diyala province in mid-June, prompting Kurdish leaders to renew calls for joint security coordination in the disputed territories.
Yawar previously warned that the ISIS resurgence has been underway for some time in the disputed territories.
“According to our data, the group increased its activities in 2018 and 2019, especially in Kurdistani areas outside of the Kurdistan Region administration, including Diyala, Hamrin, Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu, and Qarachogh. In Qarachogh, they even established bases,” Yawar told Rudaw in April.
