Peshmerga calls for greater cooperation with Iraqi army amid renewed ISIS attacks

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga commanders in Diyala province call for greater cooperation with the Iraqi army amid rising attacks from the so-called Islamic State militants.

The call for cooperation comes as the ISIS militants have recently killed at least 12 Iraqis, including members of the security forces, in separate attacks in both Nineveh and Saladin provinces.

For the Peshmerga forces to be able to better fend off the areas under its control, the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces should cooperate further in the disputed territories amid “renewed attacks” from ISIS, Brigader Mardan Salah, the commander of Hamrin Sector, told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday.

“The experience and capability of Peshmerga forces should be benefited from,” in countering the attacks, the commander said.

The sector that the Kurdish commander supervises includes large swathes of areas that are part of the three Iraqi provinces, including Saladin, Diyala, and Kirkuk, where the ISIS remnants have been able to hide and launch hit-and-run attacks against civilians and security forces.

Qori Chay, a remote area in Diyala province, is believed to have served as a safe place for the extremists to regroup and plan attacks in recent years. 

“We have found their [ISIS] dead bodies and destroyed vehicles in the area,” Nouri Abdul Kareem, a Peshmerga officer, told Kurdistan 24, similarly calling for greater cooperation between the army and Peshmerga to counter attacks.

In an attack on a village on Saturday morning in Makhmour district, at least a soldier was killed and several others were wounded following hours of fighting with the militants.

Following the conclusion of the US-led Coalition's combat mission in late 2021, the Iraqi Air Force has increased its air campaign against the remnants of ISIS.

The terror group occupied approximately one-third of Iraq for nearly three years, including its second-largest city Mosul.

Since the group's self-styled caliphate was destroyed by Kurdish, Iraqi, and international forces, it has regrouped in remote parts of the country. It continues to carry out hit-and-run attacks against security forces and civilians.

The Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces regularly conduct joint operations with the Iraqi forces against ISIS in the so-called "disputed territories" between Erbil and Baghdad, where the group is most active.

Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 reporter in Garmiyan Harem Jaff