SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A high-level delegation from the Iraqi defense ministry met with officials in the ministry of Peshmerga in Erbil on Thursday, the Kurdish ministry said in a statement.
The Iraqi and Kurdish coordination delegations held a meeting in which officials from the U.S.-led Coalition forces also attended, the ministry added.
The delegations discussed “the work of the joint coordination centers between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi forces as well as the establishment of two joint brigades”, the ministry stated.
They stressed the importance of joint coordination centers and joint works during the meeting, it said.
Following continued Islamic State (ISIS) attacks, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered establishing joint operations rooms in the disputed areas to prevent attacks carried out by the militant group against the Iraqi and Kurdish forces in disputed territories.
The Iraqi military and Peshmerga forces have established four joint operation rooms in Khanaqin, Makhmour, Kirkuk and Nineveh to exchange information and launch joint operations against the militants.
The Iraqi and Kurdish delegation also paid a visit to the Erbil joint coordination center and held a “large meeting” with directors and officers of the coordination centers, the ministry of Peshmerga said.
The two sides are now planning to establish two joint brigades between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi military for the disputed territories, where ISIS remnants have increased attacks against civilians and the security forces.
Secretary General of the Peshmerga ministry Jabbar Yawar told Iraq’s state news agency that the coordination delegations had agreed on the structure of the formation of the brigades.
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”.
