Iraqi army dismisses claims of ‘uncoordinated’ troop deployment in disputed territories
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A top Iraqi army official has dismissed claims that their recent troop deployments in territories disputed between Baghdad and Erbil were "uncoordinated.”
"We do not do anything without coordination and consultation and talks with the Peshmerga forces," Maj. Gen. Tahsin Khafaji, spokesperson of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, told Rudaw on Saturday.
The deployment of Iraqi army’s Brigade 20 from Division Five and Brigade 4 of the Rapid Response Force to locations in close proximity to the town of Kifri - in Diyala but under KRG leadership since 1991 - has triggered anger among Kurdish leadership.
The forces are stationed between Kifri and Tuz Khurmatu, in Salahaddin province. They have established nine observation posts so far, according to a count by a Rudaw reporter at the scene
"The move was uncoordinated," Sarbast Lazgin, deputy minister of the Peshmerga affairs, told Rudaw on Wednesday, saying the deployment could have been ordered by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi himself, because "in recent times, he had visited the region himself."
Khafaji dismissed allegations made against them as "inaccurate."
"We have highly sophisticated Peshmerga officers within the ranks of the joint operations command. We maintain very good coordination and continue talks with them,” said.
"The most important part of our coordination is intelligence sharing work," he said. "There is direct contact between the Peshmerga armed forces and us concerning the security of the Kurdistan Region, mainly on the borderlands against those groups posing a threat to the Region," he added.
He labelled the positioning of their forces on the Tuz Khurmatu-Kifri road as important because "the region has become a breeding ground for the regrowth of terrorist groups,” who use the area as a “safe haven.”
The KRG's Peshmerga ministry has been in talks with their Iraqi counterparts in order to fill the security void left as a result of the events of October 2017, following the Kurdish independence referendum, which saw Kurdish forces withdraw from much of the disputed areas and regions that they had protected during the height of the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) from 2014 to 2017.
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region reached an agreement in early July to resume joint military work in the disputed territories in a bid to curb a continued ISIS resurgence.
"Without an agreement, we never accept any troop deployment in any area," Jabar Yawar, secretary general of the Peshmerga Affairs Ministry, told Rudaw on Wednesday.
"Such deployments must receive the consent of the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region. We must be told where they station and it must be in coordination with our Peshmerga forces," Yawar added.
Future operations
The troop deployment comes just days after a joint operation between Sulaimani province counter-terror forces and Iraqi counter-terror forces against ISIS militants in Diyala province. Peshmerga officials again said the operation took place without any coordination with them.
"As you know, Sulaimani province and its areas have close borders with Diyala province. Some of the terrorists want to capitalize on the security void in the region," Khafaji added on Saturday.
He also dismissed claims that the KRG was not aware of the joint military work between Sulaimani's counter-terrorism and Iraq's counter-terrorism forces.
"The coordination is done at a very high level. The Kurdistan Regional Government definitely has information," he said.
"We will continue coordination, if the terrorists maintain a presence there," he said. "We share similar coordination with Erbil for joint work."
ISIS was declared territoriality defeated in Iraq in December 2017. However, remnants of the group continue to operate in the disputed territories, returning to earlier insurgency tactics including ambushes, kidnappings and targeted killings.