Iraqi military, Peshmerga agree to form joint security centers in Baghdad, Erbil
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The militaries of Iraq's federal government and the autonomous Kurdistan Region agreed on Tuesday to establish two joint coordination centers in Erbil and Baghdad and is discussing similar agreements for Kirkuk and other of the nation's disputed territories.
Officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Ministry of Peshmerga met with Iraq’s Ministry of Defense in Baghdad on Tuesday morning and, after some discussion, worked out the deal between them.
Iraqi and Peshmerga forces had coordinated to provide security in areas disputed by Erbil and Bagdhad for years until, as part of Iraq's hostile response to the Kurdistan Region's 2017 independence referendum, it attacked the areas and Pushed the Kurdish forces from them.
Since then, Iraqi forces and Iran-backed militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have proven to be far less capable of providing stability in these areas as remnants of the Islamic State continue to mount regular attacks there.
On Friday, federal and regional officials announced that had reached an agreement to restore and normalize the situation in one of the disputed territories, the Yezidi (Ezidi) majority district of Sinjar (Shingal), located outside Mosul near the Syrian border.
Read More: KRG and Baghdad reach administrative, security agreement on Sinjar
The agreement involves understandings on security, civil administration, reconstruction and service rehabilitation, and the return of displaced civilians.
In Tuesday's meeting in Baghdad, both sides discussed issues of common security concern along the line between the Peshmerga and federal forces to identify the nature of existing threats, namely among them Islamic State sleeper cells, to form a comprehensive plan to fill security vacuums in the disputed territories since the Peshmerga withdrew from them.
According to a statement from Iraq's Joint Operation Command, they will begin preparations to “open two main joint security coordination centers in Baghdad and Erbil, to form joint field security and military committees to assess security challenges, and prepare a roadmap to deal with them.”
They also discussed opening “a joint security coordination center in Diyala province and will agree on the mechanism of action at the joint checkpoints to carry out joint military and security operations against terrorism.”
The formal discussion began after a series of meetings between both ministries following the deterioration of security in Kirkuk as well as other disputed areas such as Nineveh, Diyala, and Salahuddin.
The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Peshmerga, Lieutenant General Jabbar Yawar, told Kurdistan 24 that security officials discussed defensive lines aimed at confronting the Islamic State that would extend from Diyala to the administrative borders of the city of Mosul, in addition to the implementation of joint operations where the extremist group is still active.
Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani recently said that Erbil and Baghdad have agreed to establish six joint centers between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga in Diyala, Makhmour, Mosul, Kirkuk, Erbil, and Baghdad.
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The KRG has repeatedly emphasized the need to agree on a unified mechanism between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army, backed by the US-led Coalition, to ensure stability in the disputed territories.
Editing by John J. Catherine