SULAIMANI (ESTA) — President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Bafel Talabani called on the Kurdish forces to protect Kurdistan and its people “like their eyes”.
The PUK President received Mahmoud Sangawi, head of the Garmaser frontline of the Peshmerga forces, in Sulaimani on Thursday, said a statement from Talabani’s office.
In a meeting also attended by Wahab Halabjai, the General Director of the Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG), the officials discussed the security situation of the disputed territories, and the remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, it added.
Moreover, Talabani praised the role Sangawi as well as the Peshmerga forces and other security apparatus such as CTG and Kurdistan Commando Forces, for being on duty without any break.
He also called on the Kurdish forces to protect Kurdistan and its people “like their eyes”.
ISIS terror group controlled roughly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017.
However, the Iraqi forces and Kurdish troops backed by U.S.-led Coalition forces as well as Iran-backed Shia militias defeated the group in 2017.
While ISIS was driven out of most of the territory, many of the terrorist militants still roam in the so-called disputed territories, claimed by both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The disputed areas suffer from a security vacuum that ISIS remnants exploited to operate inside, avoiding being detected by security apparatus.
