SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A high-level Iraqi security delegation will visit the Kurdistan Region on Sunday, according to state news agency INA.
The delegation led by National Security Adviser Qasem al-Araji departed Baghdad to the Kurdistan Region on Sunday morning, INA cited Araji’s office as saying.
It includes director of intelligence and counter-terrorism in the Iraqi interior minister as well as deputy commander of Iraqi joint operations, Iraqi media reported.
The delegation’s visit comes as Islamic State (ISIS) militants have increased attacks against Iraqi and Kurdish forces in disputed territories claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil.
Kurdish officials have repeatedly warned that the militant group is using a “security vacuum” between the Iraqi military and Peshmerga forces in those areas.
In a meeting with security and Peshmerga officials last week, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered to “activate intelligence and security efforts as well as pre-emptive operations to counter the movement of ISIS militants,” according to his office.
The meeting came after ISIS militants attacked the Peshmerga near Prde town in south of Erbil in the early hours of Saturday, killing three members of the Kurdish forces and wounding two others.
The Ministry of Peshmerga blamed a “security vacuum” between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces for ISIS attacks against the Peshmerga forces.
Elsewhere, ISIS attacked Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk and Diyala provinces the same day.
Secretary General of the Peshmerga Ministry Jabar Yawar said they discussed “serious threats of ISIS terrorists” occurring due to the “security and military vacuum”.
“It was decided to further activate coordination and joint works of the joint committees and teams between the [Iraqi] army and Peshmerga forces in the joint centers,” Yawar said in a separate statement.
“It was also decided to fill gaps and exchange intelligence so as to prevent the repetition of such acts, to further strengthen the security lines and to increase joint operations,” he added.
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”.
*This story was updated at 09:56 a.m. EBL time
