Masoud Barzani, PMF official meet in Erbil to discuss coordination between Peshmerga, Iraqi forces

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Top Kurdish statesman Masoud Barzani met with the head of a committee that governs the militias of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) on Wednesday, with both stressing that coordination between federal Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces was crucial to achieving security and stability in Iraq's disputed territories where ISIS militants still operate.

According to a statement from the office of Barzani, President of the lading Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), pointed out that Barzani received Falih al-Fayadh in Erbil and that the two discussed relevant particulars of the political and security situation in Iraq.

In late May, Iraq's Joint Operations Command stated that it would establish a joint security coordination center between the army and the autonomous Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga in Kirkuk, just one of the territories disputed by Baghdad and Erbil.

Read More: Peshmerga and Iraqi army to establish joint coordination center in Kirkuk after success in Diyala

The joint endeavor was the first conducted after the establishment of security cooperation centers in the areas, which have become hotbeds for ISIS activity following the group's 2017 territorial defeat in Iraq.

Read More: Peshmerga and Iraqi army begin joint monitoring of ISIS in disputed territories

Editing by John J. Catherine