SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Saturday called for the formation of a joint force between Iraqi and Kurdish forces to prevent attacks by Islamic State (ISIS) against the security forces.
ISIS militants attacked the Peshmerga forces near the village of Qayabashi in Prde town south of Erbil early on Saturday, killing three members of the Kurdish forces.
“We have informed the federal government and the international coalition against ISIS about the danger of ISIS strength and the use of a security vacuum in the disputed areas,” Barzani said in a statement.
“We once again call on the parliament, the federal government and the international coalition against ISIS to speed up works to form a joint force between the Peshmerga forces and Iraqi army in the disputed areas so that those areas won’t be used as corridors of terrorist movements by the ISIS, because it is a great danger on the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, and a threat on security of the region and world,” he added.
The president further said the Kurdistan Region was ready to accelerate coordination and the formation of a joint force.
Kurdish officials have warned that the militant group is using a “security vacuum” between the Peshmerga forces and Iraqi army in the disputed areas to attack the Kurdish and Iraqi forces.
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”.
