SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani will meet commanders of the Peshmerga forces on Monday, following continued Islamic State (ISIS) attacks on the Kurdish forces.
Esta Media Network reporter said Barzani would discuss ISIS attacks and to take “necessary measures” to confront the militants.
ISIS militants have carried out six attacks against the Peshmerga forces in the disputed territories since November 27.
Four members of the Peshmerga forces were killed and two others were wounded in an ISIS attack on their frontline in Qara Salim in Kirkuk province on Sunday night, according to Esta’s reporter.
The militant group also took over Liheban village in Kirkuk on Sunday night.
The two villages are in remote territory claimed by Baghdad and Erbil, where there are regular attacks by Islamic State. But it is a rare incident of ISIS militants controlling a residential area near a main road, a highway that links Erbil to the city of Kirkuk.
Last week, the militants carried out five attacks against Peshmerga forces in Garmian administration and Qarachogh mountain near Makhmour, southwest of Erbil.
Three civilians and 10 members of the Peshmerga forces were killed in the attack on Khidrjija village in the foothills of Qarachogh mountain.
Eight other members of the Peshmerga forces were killed in the attacks in Kifri and Kulajo in Garmian administration, according to authorities.
Kurdish officials and analysts have long blamed a lack of coordination along a stretch of territory claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil for ISIS’ continued ability to wage deadly attacks.
The Peshmerga ministry said the militants continued to use a security gap between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces to attack the Peshmerga.
Islamic State controlled roughly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017, including the remote Makhmour region but also major cities including Mosul.
Iraqi forces, Kurdish troops and Iran-backed Shia militias defeated the militant group in 2017, but its members still roam areas of northern Iraq and northeastern Syria.
