Kurdish security chief, US diplomat discuss anti-ISIS campaign

Chancellor Masrour Barzani “expressed concern about increasing ISIS activity in several provinces, including Anbar, Mosul, Diyala and Kirkuk.”

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – “The anti-ISIS campaign and regional developments” topped the agenda of talks between the Kurdistan Region’s security chief and a senior US diplomat during a meeting on Tuesday.

Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Chancellor Masrour Barzani received Deputy Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Ambassador William Roebuck in his office in Erbil, a statement from his office read.

The chancellor “expressed concern about increasing ISIS activity in several provinces, including Anbar, Mosul, Diyala and Kirkuk,” a view shared by both Barzani and Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, the Commanding General for Special Forces in the US-led coalition, when they met a week ago.

Read More:  Masrour Barzani and Coalition Commander discuss rise in ISIS threat

Amid the recently-launched campaign of Iraqi forces against remnants of the terrorist organization in the country’s remote areas such as the Hamrin Mountains—one of the sites where it continues to thrive—officials and locals complain that lapses in security have emboldened the Islamic State.

On Monday, suspected Islamic State gunmen stormed a village in the westernmost district of Nineveh Province, torching several houses and looking for “individuals wanted by the organization,” a security source told Kurdistan 24.

The incident occurred just hours after a lawmaker representing Nineveh in the Iraqi parliament issued a public statement, claiming that such acts in al-Ba’aj District, in particular, have become common, prompting residents to flee for safety to the east and north.

In this regard, there are similarities to the initial onslaught of the terror group in 2014. Termed “reverse migration” by the Iraqi human rights commission in a statement that it released on Tuesday, the body warned that frightened civilians are again leaving for the Kurdistan Region.

“[R]everse migration is happening from the cities of Nineveh province to the cities in the Kurdistan Region due to lack of security, stability, and basic services,” the commission stated.

Along with concerns about their safety, other aspects of daily life are chronically lacking for those who chose to flee. That includes the loss of cohesive communities and the lack of employment opportunities, in a country long plagued by ethnic and sectarian violence, which is notorious for its level of corruption.

Barzani stressed the importance of addressing the non-military aspects of reconstruction in the areas liberated from the so-called Islamic State.

There is a need “for Iraq and its international partners to tackle the underlying political, economic and security challenges in parallel to the military campaign,” he emphasized.

Roebuck and Barzani also discussed the issue of “coordination between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi security forces in the disputed territories.” Barzani welcomed Roebuck’s call for enhancing such ties, according to the KRSC statement.

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) relations with the new Iraqi government continue to improve, following a near-collapse in late 2017, when then Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, in coordination with Tehran, attacked disputed areas, including Kirkuk, following the Kurdistan independence referendum.

Last week, a delegation from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense arrived in Kurdistan to meet with officials from the Ministry of Peshmerga and discuss, among other issues, the latest campaigns against the Islamic State in the disputed territories.

Editing by Laurie Mylroie