SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Military denied reports that Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) had moved units to Kirkuk province.
Iraqi Security Media Cell said in a statement on Monday (October 12) that some social media pages reported “inaccurate news” about the movement of PMF units to Kirkuk province.
“The movement of all military units is carried out by the Joint Operations Command,” the Iraqi military said, stressing that the rumors are “baseless”.
Iraqi forces alongside Hashd al-Shaabi launched a military operation to retake control of disputed areas from the Kurdish forces in mid-October 2017, in the wake of the independence referendum. The disputed areas have been under the control of the federal government’s forces since then.
Iraqi and Kurdish officials are in talks to reach an agreement to establish joint coordination centers in the disputed areas and to launch joint military operations against Islamic State (ISIS) remnants, who still pose a threat to the country.
A delegation from the Region’s Ministry of Peshmerga visited Baghdad on Tuesday for talks with Iraqi military and defense ministry officials.
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”.
