Kerry affirms US support for Peshmerga

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – On Friday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation met with US Secretary of State John Kerry and other Iraqi officials in Baghdad, discussing the security and economic situation in the country.

The KRG delegation was headed by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani. In the meeting, they discussed the current financial crisis in the Region and Iraq, the fight against the Islamic State (IS) and freeing Mosul, relations between Erbil-Baghdad, as well as Erbil-Washington ties.

Kerry emphasized the support of the US for Kurdistan and Iraq in addressing the financial crisis due to the drop in oil prices. He also mentioned the effective role of Kurdish Peshmerga forces in defeating IS and the continued support of Kurdish people for Peshmerga in the war against the extremists.

“With KRG PM Barzani affirmed US support for Peshmerga and strengthening cooperation with #Baghdad [sic],” Kerry tweeted on his official Twitter account on Friday.

Following the meeting with Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Kerry held a press conference and explained the purpose of his visit to Iraq and touched upon the latest international coalition airstrikes against IS.

“The fact is, in Iraq, Da’esh fighters have not been offensive in months. They are losing grounds, including 40 percent of the territory that they once controlled in Iraq,” said Kerry, using the Arabic pejorative word for IS.

He mentioned that since the formation of the international coalition in 2014, IS has lost tens of thousands of fighters. Additionally, coalition airstrikes have taken out more than a hundred senior and mid-level leaders, including the so-called "Ministers of War and Finance."

“Coalition airstrikes also had a serious impact on Da’esh’s cash flow. We have hit over 1,200 oil targets, reducing 30 percent of the organization’s ability to generate revenue from oil,” Kerry stated.

He also talked about the Mosul operation and said that the US’ role in the task is to support the Iraqi security forces in liberating the city from IS. Kerry added that the coalition and Iraqi forces will continue their focus of liberating Mosul.

Moreover, the KRG delegation also met Abadi, Iraqi President Fuad Masum and other Iraqi officials to discuss the current development in the country and the relationship between Erbil and Baghdad.

The following video is the full press conference:

Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany