US condemns ISIS attack that killed Kurdish Peshmerga forces in disputed territories

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/11/28 15:14

A Peshmerga military vehicle is seen after being destroyed by a deadly IED attack by ISIS in the town of Kojalo Kolajo, Nov. 28, 2021. (Photo: Harem Jaff/Kurdistan 24)

Kurdistan ISIS Peshmerga US Krg Kulajo Iraq

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United States on Sunday condemned the deadly attack carried out by ISIS the night before that killed five Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces in one of Iraq's disputed territories.

According to Peshmerga sources who spoke to Kurdistan 24, an improvised explosive device (IED) was planted by ISIS and later destroyed a military vehicle of Peshmerga forces in the town of Kolajo, killing at least five members of the unit, plus other casualties said to have been caused by an ISIS sniper.

“We strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack conducted by ISIS yesterday against Peshmerga forces in the district of Kulejo in the Garmian area,” the United States Consulate General in Erbil tweeted on Sunday, referring to the Garmiyan Administration, an unofficial Kurdistan Region district covering the area in question.

The embassy extended its “deepest condolences” to the families of the killed and wounded Peshmerga and reiterated US support for both Kurdish and Iraqi forces in their efforts to ensure the “enduring defeat” of ISIS.

“We have repeatedly warned of ISIS threats,” Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Sunday in response to the attack, stressing that the extremist group still poses an immediate danger to residents and security forces alike in the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad.

After the Kurdistan Region's 2017 independence referendum, Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in October 2017 pushed the Peshmerga out of contested areas, including the oil-rich Kirkuk province

Since then, the areas have suffered from a lack of unified military strategy across large tracts of land ranging from Khanaqin in central Diyala province to Kirkuk and northward to multiple areas surrounding Mosul.

The Iraqi military announced in early November that it had launched a joint military operation with Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces to pursue ISIS remnants in territories disputed by Baghdad and Erbil where the extremist organization has long exploited the security vacuum caused by gaps between Iraqi and Peshmerga forces.