Peshmerga, Iraqi forces conduct joint operation in Nineveh

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces along with the Iraqi army carried out a joint operation in western Nineveh province on Wednesday against ISIS cells. 

The operation began at 6:00 am and lasted until noon on Wednesday, a statement from the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs noted.

The forces launched the operation in the areas between Ain Awez and Mahmoodiya villages in the province.

“The operation was aimed at securing the areas that fall into the joint security gap between the two sides,” the press release added.

The Ministry did not elaborate further on whether forces had destroyed any hideouts in the remote areas, which the extremists heavily rely on following their territorial defeat in 2017.

Although the terrorist group no longer controls territories in the region, it launches low-level insurgency against both civilian and security targets, particularly in remote areas in the northern part of the country.

Dozens of security members and civilians were killed late last year in the remote areas of Kirkuk by the terror group.

In order to fill the security vacuum between the federal and Kurdistan Region forces, the Kurdistan Regional Government regularly calls on Baghdad to enhance coordination in these areas in order to prevent the resurgence of the group.

The US-led international coalition against ISIS also supports this request.