SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Friday the federal government should further coordinate with the Peshmerga forces to fill security gaps in the disputed territories amid continued Islamic State (ISIS) attacks.
Three civilians and seven members of the Peshmerga forces were killed after ISIS militants attacked a village in the foothills of Qarachogh mountain late on Thursday.
Qarachogh mountain, located 60 kilometers southwest of Erbil, has become a safe haven for the militants since Iraqi forces alongside Kurdish forces retook control of areas were once under the control of ISIS.
“The federal government should increase coordination and joint works with the Peshmerga forces to prevent the continued attacks by the ISIS terrorists in the Kurdistani areas outside the Kurdistan Region’s administration and to fill the security gap in those areas,” the KRG said in a statement.
“The KRG has expressed its complete readiness and still expresses it,” it added.
ISIS militants have increased its attacks against the Peshmerga forces in the disputed territories.
Thursday’s attack was the fifth attack that the militants had carried out against the Kurdish forces in the disputed areas this week.
Eight members of the Peshmerga forces were killed in the attacks in Kifri and Kulajo in Garmian administration, according to authorities.
Earlier this month, the militants carried out two attacks against the Peshmerga forces in the disputed areas.
On October 31, two members of the Peshmerga forces were killed in another ISIS attack near Prde, south of Erbil.
The Peshmerga ministry said the militants continued to use a security gap between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces to attack the Peshmerga.
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December 2017 but the militants have regrouped in the Hamrin mountain range which extends into the northern provinces – an area described by officials as a “triangle of death”.
