ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Iraq’s armed forces command warned on Sunday against foreign planes breaching Iraq’s airspace and arming “a certain Iraqi faction,”
Iraq’s armed forces that are still officially under former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said in a public statement, “We have noticed that in recent days foreign fighter jets have breached Iraq’s airspace and delivered arms to a certain faction inside Iraq without Baghdad’s permission,”
The statement that mentions “northern Iraq,” as a clear reference to the Kurdistan Region warns all foreign countries against exploiting Iraq’s security situation and violating Iraq’s sovereignty.
Maliki was forced by President Fuad Masum last week to step down as prime minister after almost eight years in office.
“We welcome international support for Iraq in its war against terrorism,” read the statement. “But Iraq’s territorial sovereignty must be respected.”
Last week saw a surge in foreign military aid to the Kurdish forces who fight the Islamic State (IS) on several fronts in Nineveh, Kirkuk and Diyala.
Maliki, a Shiite leader from the Dawa Party, has long been blamed by the Kurds for undercutting the Peshmerga forces by freezing their budget and banning the purchase of arms.
