KRG, UK reiterate need for Iraqi-Peshmerga security cooperation in disputed territories

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The importance of security cooperation between the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces and their Iraqi federal military counterparts was reiterated on Wednesday by the Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and a top British military advisor to the Middle East.

The remarks came during a meeting held in the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil between Barzani and Air Marshal Sammy Sampson, the UK’s top defense advisor to the Middle East and Africa (MENA), according to a press release from the prime minister’s office.

In the meeting, “the importance of security cooperation was reiterated, particularly in the disputed territories in order to thwart and limit threat from the so-called Islamic State,” the release noted as the British delegation reiterated its and the coalition’s commitment to the Region’s Peshmerga forces in their fight against terrorism.

Territories disputed between Erbil and Baghdad have witnessed an uptick in ISIS attacks as the terrorist group exploits the security vacuum in the area widened by the lack of cooperation between the two forces.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly