Peshmerga commander discusses Iraqi-Kurdish cooperation with coalition official
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Peshmerga Major-General Sirwan Barzani, Commander of Sector 6, discussed the continued cooperation between the Peshmerga, Iraqi Army, and the US-led coalition with a senior coalition official.
"We held a meeting with Col. Bolles, Deputy Director of MAG-North," Peshmerga Major-General Sirwan Barzani tweeted on Monday. "We discussed the continuous cooperation between the #Peshmerga, Iraqi Army, and Coalition Forces."
We held a meeting with Col. Bolles, Deputy Director of MAG-North. We discussed the continuous cooperation between the #Peshmerga, Iraqi Army, and Coalition Forces. We also talked about the importance of surveillance and caution on the movements of #ISIS terrorists. pic.twitter.com/pXqFURVPgp
— Sirwan Barzani (@SirwanBarzani_) July 4, 2022
Major-General Barzani also underlined the importance of surveilling ISIS movements in the region.
Last month there were several meetings between the Iraqi military and Peshmerga officials in Baghdad and Erbil.
Read More: Peshmerga Ministry delegation visits Baghdad to discuss security cooperation, joint brigades
After a Peshmerga delegation visited Baghdad on June 23, the coalition reiterated its support for increased security cooperation between both sides.
The coalition has been pushing for closer cooperation between the Iraqi Army and the Peshmerga to fill security gaps in the disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil. These gaps were created in October 2017, when Iraqi forces and Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) pushed the Peshmerga out of those territories one month after the Sept. 25, 2017, Kurdish independence referendum.
Since then, the disputed areas have suffered from a lack of military coordination along the Kurdish Coordination Line (KCL), separating Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
Read More: US-led coalition expresses support for increased Peshmerga-Iraqi Army cooperation
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday also met with Brigadier General Karl Harris, deputy commander of the coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.
During the meeting, they both stressed the importance of continuing security cooperation between the Peshmerga and Iraqi Security Forces to confront ISIS threats.