“There are disputes between us and them on a daily basis,” said Peshmerga commander Bahram Arif Yaseen, referring to the Iraqi army and Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi, separated from the Kurdish forces by a barrier.
“Some members from Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi are going among people, giving some money and calling on them to back their forces. Or they call on people to leave Kurdish areas. They want to use the people for their own future goals.”
So-called ‘disputed areas,’ territory claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad, are a sticking point in relations between the two governments.
Kurdish authorities have said they have extended their territories by as much as 40 percent since 2014. In mid-November, Kurdish President Masoud Barzani said that an agreement was in place between his government, and the governments of Iraq and the United States that the Kurdish forces would not withdraw from lands they reclaimed from ISIS before the start of the Mosul operation.
For territory taken from ISIS after the start of the Mosul operation on October 17, Barzani said the Peshmerga would help locals to defend their own lands.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution outlines the steps that should be taken to resolve the status of disputed areas – including a referendum to determine who should exercise control in these regions.
But the Peshmerga in Somaqiyah see many problems developing between them and the Iraqis. “When members from our government want to re-establish institutions in the [disputed areas], they face problems with Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi,” said Yaseen.
Leaders from both Erbil and Baghdad hailed the unprecedented cooperation between their forces in the Mosul operation, which saw them fighting a common enemy side-by-side.
This is the first time the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces have shed blood together, Barzani said on the first day of the Mosul operation. “We hope it’s a good start to create a bright future for both sides.”
Two weeks later, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi echoed Barzani’s words. “For the first time in Iraqi history the Iraqi federal forces with Peshmerga are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder,” he said. “This is the new Iraq.”
But Yaseen is not seeing this cooperation playing out on the frontline he shares with the Iraqi forces. “We are now witnessing problems emerging as a reality.”
