Peshmerga thwarted ISIS attack in Makhmour; two wounded, commander says

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A senior Kurdistan Region Peshmerga commander detailed the Thursday night ISIS attack the Kurdish forces thwarted in the foothills of Mount Qara-Chogh in the disputed Makhmour district.

Sirwan Barzani, the Gwer-Makhmour axis commander, said in a statement to Kurdistan 24 that "several ISIS terrorists" targeted Peshmerga fighters stationed in the area, with the Kurdish troops thwarting the assault.

Barzani explained two Peshmerga were wounded in the confrontation.

Following the emergence of ISIS in 2014, Kurdish Peshmerga forces held their front lines in the areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, often preventing sleeper cells from entering their territory despite the terrorist organization controlling large tracts of land adjacent to Makhmour.

Security in those regions, however, significantly deteriorated after Iraqi forces and PMF militias overran Kirkuk and other disputed territories and drove the Kurdish forces from them in response to the Kurdistan Region's September 2017 independence referendum.