Official: Peshmerga to take part in battle for Mosul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A high-ranking Peshmerga official declared Wednesday that the Peshmerga will take part in an anticipated battle for Mosul.

“Mosul is the heart of ISIS and it must be taken out,” Jabar Yawar, the chief of staff of the Peshmerga ministry, told Rudaw, saying that the Peshmerga are ready to fight alongside the coalition to push ISIS out of Mosul.  

Yawar claimed that “the Kurdistan region has shown its willingness and will participate in the battle for Mosul.”

“The liberation of Mosul will have a significant impact for the security of Kurdistan and is also in the interest of the whole Iraq,” he continued.

Without Baghdad, the Kurdistan region will not unilaterally wage war against ISIS in Mosul, therefore “the Kurdistan region will have an agreement with Baghdad on how to launch the assault, and the Peshmerga will coordinate the details of military plans alongside the US-led coalition, tribal militants and Iraqi joint forces,” Yawar explained.

He also rejected claims that the Peshmerga will join the battle for Hawija.

“We have no plan to fight ISIS in Hawija, because they are far away from our borders and we have no mutual interests with any party to take part in possible attacks on ISIS in Hawija,” he concluded.