SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces have cleared two villages in the Garmian administration of Islamic State (ISIS) militants, the ministry of Peshmerga said late on Friday.
In a statement, the ministry said the Peshmerga forces launched a search operation in the villages of Dakai Sarcham and Kani Masi, located on the Sirwan lake in the security vacuum between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
“The area has been completely cleared out,” the Peshmerga ministry said.
The Peshmerga ministry added that the area was used by the militants to carry out “destructive and terrorist acts and to take money from villagers”.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-led Coalition forces said coordination and cooperation between the Iraqi and Peshmerga forces are “vital” to ensuring ISIS lasting defeat.
Kurdish officials 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.
Islamic State controlled roughly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017. Iraqi forces and Kurdish troops backed by U.S.-led Coalition forces as well as Iran-backed Shia militias defeated the militant group in 2017, but its members still roam areas of northern Iraq and northeastern Syria.
