Peshmerga commander warns 'security vacuum' enabling ISIS movements

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A senior commander in the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces reiterated concerns on Saturday about the extant "security vacuum" between Kurdish forces and the Iraqi army is enabling ISIS elements to move freely, especially in the vicinity of disputed Makhmour.

General Sirwan Barzani, the Peshmerga Commander at the Gwer-Makhmour front line, in an interview with Kurdistan 24, affirmed that recent ISIS activities mark a "dangerous" episode.

He said that the upsurge in ISIS attacks in the vicinity of Makhmour and Mount Qarachukh southeast of Mosul, Nineveh province, is primarily due to "the security vacuum in the areas under the control of Baghdad."

The conditions give ISIS "the freedom of movement" in those areas, indicating the "severe" threat the terrorist organization poses, Sirwan Barzani added.

Referring to a kidnapping incident on Friday in Nineveh province close to Makhmour, the commander explained that the abductees are yet to be freed.

He added that ISIS remnants are "still holed up" on parts of Mount Qarachukh, supposedly under the control of the Iraqi government. ISIS members reportedly move around using a network of tunnels and sustain themselves using resources they forcibly take from nearby residents.

"Today, we held a meeting with the Iraqi army and provided them with information, but they did not take any action or had no authority to address the many security voids in the region," he said.

Before 2017, when the Peshmerga forces controlled the Makhmour area, the commander asserted, ISIS "could not do anything." Members of the terror group rob civilians at gunpoint at fake security checkpoints they set up under cover of darkness, Sirwan Barzani explained.

He affirmed that establishing a joint operations room between the federal army and the Peshmerga is of "great importance" to enhance cooperation in high-risk areas.

He also pointed out ISIS militants "do not have the strength they used to," but continue to carry out insurgency-style attacks against civilians. The commander added that the Iraqi army "does not have the ability" to eliminate the ISIS threat alone.