SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered the implementation of security agreements previously reached between Iraq’s military and Peshmerga forces, a senior Peshmerga official said.
Jabar Yawar, Secretary General of the Peshmerga Ministry, told state news agency INA that Kadhimi had ordered the implementation of the agreement, which is to establish joint coordination centers between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the disputed territories.
Yawar said the Iraqi military and the Peshmerga had previously reached an agreement to establish joint coordination centers for the regions of Khanaqin, Kirkuk, Mosul and Makhmour.
“These centers have not been established by the coordinating committee of the joint operations command, and the agreement to form a joint force between the Peshmerga and Iraqi army in the disputed areas has also not been formed,” Yawar added.
A military delegation led by National Security Advisor Qasem al-Araji visited the Kurdistan Region on May 9, he further said.
“It was agreed to implement the security agreements after Eid al-Fitr holiday,” he told INA.
“The best solution for the stability of the disputed areas lies in the continuation of joint coordination between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi military to maintain security in those areas,” he noted.
Efforts to establish coordination centers came after Islamic State (ISIS) militants attacked the Peshmerga forces near Prde town south of Erbil and in Kifri district in Diyala province this month.
Four members of the Peshmerga forces were killed and three others wounded in the attacks, according to Peshmerga officials,
Recently, ISIS militants have increased attacks against the Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the disputed territories, claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil.
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”.
