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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned on Friday the Islamic State (ISIS) attack on civilians and Peshmerga forces in Makhmour, warning against underestimating the threat the group still poses.
Yehia Rasool, military spokesperson for Kadhimi, said in a statement that the commander-in-chief of the armed forces commented that the “treacherous” attack by ISIS in Makhmour “will not pass without the just retribution of the terrorist criminals who committed this cowardly act.”
Kadhimi “stressed the need to join effort and not underestimate [the threat by] the pockets of Daesh terrorist gangs,” added the statement by Rasool, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
ISIS attacked Liheban and Khidirjija villages in the Qarachogh area late Thursday, killing ten Peshmerga fighters, raising the toll of Kurdish soldiers murdered by the group to 18 since last week. Three civilians who clashed with the group were also killed.
ISIS seized control of swaths of land in Iraq in 2014. It was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces. It is especially active in parts of northern Iraq that are disputed by Erbil and Baghdad, including in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala, Salahaddin, and Makhmour.
Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement that they are ready to cooperate with Peshmerga in the disputed areas in the fight against ISIS, adding that "we will expand our cooperation to retaliate for the blood of martyrs as well as exterminating terrorists and chasing them in their hideouts."
Iraqi President Barham Salih also condemned the ISIS attack, calling for increased cooperation between Peshmerga forces and Iraqi army.
Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim also condemned the attack, saying the offensive “calls for a joint intelligence effort to prevent criminal plans and restore stability and security for fragile cities.”
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited the family of the three civilians killed in the attack in Makhmour, telling reporters that the security gap between Peshmerga forces and Iraqi Army is to be blamed for the attack.
“Some steps have been taken to form two joint brigades to fill the [security] gap that is being talked about, but the necessary practical steps have not been taken until now,” said Barzani.
“We will not wait for anything else, because the safety and defending [our] land and our nation comes above everything else,” he added.
The Peshmerga ministry announced in July they were working on the formation of two joint brigades of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces to counter remnants of ISIS in the disputed areas, cooperating in order to reduce the threat of the group’s resurgence. But efforts to form the brigades have stalled.
The gap between Peshmerga and Iraqi forces is up to 40 kilometers wide in parts. “ISIS has been able to exploit the lack of coordination between forces to operate in the ungoverned territory,” the Pentagon stated in its latest report on anti-ISIS operations.
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