SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A delegation from the Ministry of Peshmerga headed to Baghdad on Tuesday to hold intelligence and security talks with Iraqi officials, the ministry said in a statement.
The Peshmerga ministry said the delegation would hold two separate meetings with the directorate of intelligence and the defense ministry in Baghdad.
The delegation will discuss security situation and “terrorists’ threats” as well as steps to tackle issues between the Iraqi military and the Peshmerga forces, the statement read.
The delegation is led by Secretary-General of the Peshmerga Ministry Jabar Yawar, according to the statement.
The meeting with the defense ministry aimed at “playing a role together to chase and defeat Daesh terrorists,” the ministry said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State (ISIS).
The Peshmerga delegation will also discuss joint operations between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi military during the meeting, the ministry said.
On Saturday, a Peshmerga delegation led by Yawar paid a visit to Baghdad. The two sides agreed to further coordinate in confronting ISIS militants in the disputed territories.
The delegations’ visit came after ISIS militants carried out several attacks against the Peshmerga forces in those areas.
On Sunday, a group of ISIS militants attacked the frontline of the Peshmerga forces near Qara Salim in Prde sub-district in north of Kirkuk, killing four members of the Kurdish forces and wounding two others.
It was the sixth attack against the Peshmerga forces in the disputed territories since November 27.
Last week, the militants carried out five attacks against Peshmerga forces in Garmian administration and Qarachogh mountain near Makhmour, southwest of Erbil.
Three civilians and 10 members of the Peshmerga forces were killed in the attack on Khidrjija village in the foothills of Qarachogh mountain.
Eight other members of the Peshmerga forces were killed in the attacks in Kifri and Kulajo in Garmian administration, according to authorities.
Kurdish officials and analysts have long blamed a lack of coordination along a stretch of territory claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil for ISIS’ continued ability to wage deadly attacks.
The Peshmerga ministry said the militants continued to use a security gap between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces to attack the Peshmerga.
Islamic State controlled roughly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017, including the remote Makhmour region but also major cities including Mosul.
Iraqi forces, Kurdish troops and Iran-backed Shia militias defeated the militant group in 2017, but its members still roam areas of northern Iraq and northeastern Syria.
