Iraqi army, Peshmerga to form two joint brigades
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Two joint brigades of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces will be formed soon as part of efforts to counter Islamic State (ISIS) remnants in the disputed territories, the peshmerga ministry confirmed in a statement.
The formation of the brigades comes in response to escalating ISIS activity in Kirkuk, Diyala, Khanaqin, Salahaddin, Anbar and western Mosul, said deputy Peshmerga minister Sarbast Lazgin to the press on Saturday.
Lazgin said that discussions are underway to agree on arming and funding the brigades.
“We at the Ministry of Peshmerga have prepared the forces assigned to the two brigades,” Lazgin said, adding there is “good progress” being made between Erbil and Baghdad.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019 but remains a threat on both sides of the border, carrying out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
A Peshmerga commander said that ISIS has regained strength and is now longer simply reorganizing, a day after a Peshmerga fighter was killed in an ISIS attack in Diyala in May.
“Daesh [ISIS] is not in the reorganization stage anymore; Daesh is now a force, a force dangerous for the region,” Brigadier General Dler Shko Rashid, commander of the Peshmerga's Brigade 3 in Khanaqin said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Several joint coordination centers have been opened in the disputed territories, where ISIS is particularly active.
ISIS claimed responsibility for a May attack on Peshmerga forces that killed three on the Erbil-Kirkuk road.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held a meeting in May with commanders of the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces to discuss better coordination “in areas of joint responsibility,” as well as “security plans to confront and limit security breaches and extend security and stability throughout the country” to counter ISIS movements, according to a statement from his office.