After ISIS attack, PM Barzani says Peshmerga, Iraqi forces must 'immediately strengthen security coordination'
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Friday called for stronger cooperation between Kurdish Peshmerga, Iraqi forces, and the US-led coalition in their fight against ISIS in the wake of the terror group’s deadly attacks on Kurdish forces and civilians the night before.
According to current casualty figures released by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), ten Peshmerga including members of the Peshmerga forces and civilians in southern Erbil province.
"I'm deeply saddened by the loss of our citizens and brave Peshmerga to yet another cowardly attack by ISIS terror group near Qarachogh," he wrote in a social media post. "My thoughts are with the victims' families and those injured."
"ISIS remains a serious threat to residents of the disputed territories," he continued in a second post, referring to territories disputed by Baghdad and Erbil that 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.
Barzani began the statement with a call to "immediately strengthen security coordination with the federal govt to stop the group’s resurgence in these areas."
We must immediately strengthen security coordination with the federal govt to stop the group’s resurgence in these areas.
— Masrour Barzani (@masrour_barzani) December 3, 2021
The KRG reaffirms its readiness to help bring stability to all of the country in general and combat the terror threat in the disputed areas in particular.
Earlier on Friday, the Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani called for "quick and robust military reactions" from both federal and regional forces to prevent further such ISIS attacks.
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 multiple of the contested areas, creating large areas where ISIS has consistently been able to exploit the resulting security vacuum to stage deadly and disruptive attacks.
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.
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