ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The joint deployment of Iraqi and Kurdish forces has curtailed Islamic State (ISIS) activities in the Kurdistan Region’s southernmost reaches, once a hotbed of jihadist activity because of a security gap, the local mayor said on Saturday.
"The movement of armed fighters and sleeper cells of ISIS has ceased in the Kifri border areas, especially after the deployment of a joint brigade regiment equipped with surveillance cameras and advanced security devices, which has had a significant positive impact on eliminating ISIS fighters' movements,” Kifri mayor Sahir Ali told Rudaw.
Kifri is part of Sulaimani’s Garmiyan administration and borders federally-held areas. Erbil and Baghdad are working together to close a security vacuum that exists between their areas of control and allows ISIS militants space to manoeuvre.
Ali said that additional Peshmerga forces are present in the area, particularly in the borders of Nawjul, Ghara, Kariz, and other locations, and that "this provides reassurance to people."
A commander of Peshmerga forces in Garmiyan told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity that "Each Peshmerga brigade in this border has been assigned a specific area to oversee security. Some of these designated areas fall within security vacuum zones."
"Currently, about 80% of the security gaps in Garmiyan have been filled and the majority of these areas are now secured by Peshmerga forces,” the commander added. “A joint brigade regiment is stationed on the Garmiyan border, which has been effective, but there remains a security gap of approximately eight to 10 kilometers between this regiment and the Popular Mobilization Forces that hasn't been filled."
In August 2021, the Ministry of Peshmerga and the Iraqi Army agreed to form two joint brigades to be deployed into areas with security vacuums. Implementation of the decision, however, was delayed because of turmoil following the 2021 election and lack of funding.
ISIS seized control of swathes of territory in northern and central Iraq in 2014. Their so-called caliphate was brought to an end in 2017, but the group has continued to pose a security threat, particularly in the disputed territories that stretch across several provinces including Diyala, Salahaddin, Kirkuk, and Nineveh.
Iraqi security forces said on Friday that they carried out two airstrikes against a group of four suspected ISIS members on the border between the northern provinces of Kirkuk and Salahaddin, killing all of them.
Malik Mohammed contributed to this article.
