Kurdistan Regional Government warns of imminent attack

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) has warned of an “imminent attack” by Iraqi troops and Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) northwest of Mosul.

The KRSC warning came in a statement issued early Thursday morning in Erbil.

The KRSC statement, highlighting the unprovoked nature of the threatened attack, cited the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) “flexibility and repeated calls for dialogue.”

On Wednesday, the KRG had issued a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire, “freezing” of the results of the independence referendum, and starting a dialogue with Baghdad.

The KRG statement was welcomed in Washington by State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert. Also, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, and the chairmen of three major committees: Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence issued a joint statement, praising the KRG position and calling for an immediate halt to the fighting.

Brig. Gen. Ernie Audino (US Army, Retired), who commanded a team of combat advisors embedded in a Peshmerga Brigade during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and is now a Senior Military Fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, said told Kurdistan 24, “Should the Iranian proxies [the PMF] and Baghdad, attack in the face of President [Masoud] Barzani’s offer to freeze the results of the referendum and enter into a ceasefire, Baghdad and Tehran will have become the clear, unequivocal aggressors.”

Michael Pregent, an adviser to Generals David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno during OIF, and now an Iraq expert at the Hudson Institute, informed Kurdistan 24, “The US government is warning Baghdad and Tehran not to attack.”

“If there is an attack after the KRG froze the Kurdish referendum, it’s a gamechanger,” Pregent said.

The KRSC warning—also distributed by the KRG mission in Washington—detailed the build-up of Iraqi and Iranian-backed forces, including with US equipment, in preparation for a “major attack.”

“In Zummar, heavy artillery and tanks are positioned in an offensive posture toward nearby Peshmerga positions,” the warning read.

In Rabia, a key border crossing into Syria, “US equipment including a significant number of Humvees and Armored Personnel Carriers, have arrived to reinforce tanks and artillery deployed in recent days,” the KRSC statement said.

“This is unconstitutional,” it affirmed. “The KRG has implemented obligations under the tripartite agreement of October 2016 between Erbil, Baghdad, and Washington DC, requiring a withdrawal to areas [held] prior to the anti-ISIL campaign in Mosul.”

“That agreement stipulates the Iraqi Government would not deploy PMF to areas bordering Kurdistan,” it explained. “Their continued deployment and use of heavy equipment,” including much of it American, “signals intent to use military means to settle political disputes.”

“This behavior continues, because the US-led Global Coalition fails to apply the pressure necessary to stop Iraq’s aggressive military attacks.”

The KRSC calls “on the international community to intervene immediately to stop Iraq’s reckless behavior.”

“In particular, [the US] must apply the pressure necessary to stop Iraq.” It “must not allow Iranian-backed forces to use American equipment.”

Audino emphasized that the threatening deployments create a major dilemma for Washington. “To this point, [Washington] has been whole-heartedly supporting Baghdad and the Iranian proxies on the ground,” he said.

If there is an attack, then continued support for Baghdad and its PMF allies “will functionally align [the US] with a listed terror organization:” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Audino explained.

A number of the most powerful PMFs, including those involved in attacking the Peshmerga, are, in fact, IRGC proxies.

Pregent noted that these ominous developments have implications for how Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi should be understood.

Pregent suggested, “Abadi is powerless to stop this, and he may be like-minded.”

“Indeed, the latest report from the KRSC, as dawn broke a short while ago, is “Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed PMF are shelling Peshmerga positions from Zummar, northwest of Mosul. Now advancing.” 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany