At 11:30pm, “Daesh [ISIS] attacked one of the Peshmerga 18th Infantry Brigade barricade in Ala village in the foothills of Mount Qarachogh,” the Peshmerga ministry tweeted Saturday.
The Peshmerga repelled the attack and suffered no casualties or injures, the ministry added.
Mount Qarachogh in the Makhmour area is located within an area where there is a security vacuum between the Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi federal forces. ISIS has taken advantage of the situation in the past to move around, harass local residents, and carry out attacks.
It is one of the areas where a joint Peshmerga-Iraqi brigade could be based. Prior to Iraq’s 2021 elections, Erbil and Baghdad were discussing establishing several joint brigades in the disputed areas. Talks were postponed because of the vote. The draft federal budget currently before the parliament includes funds for two joint brigades.
