US consulate reiterates support for Iraq, Peshmerga after deadly ISIS attack

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US consulate on Monday extended condolences for casualties of joint Iraqi-Kurdish security forces following a deadly Islamic State (ISIS) attack in Salahaddin province, and reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with Iraqi partners.

“We express our sincere condolences,” the consulate said in a post on X, regarding those “who lost their lives in a terrorist attack while supporting efforts to defeat ISIS.”

Two commanders and an officer of the joint Iraqi-Kurdish security forces were killed, with three soldiers wounded when an IED exploded on a joint Iraqi-Kurdish patrol in Salahaddin province’s Tuz Khurmatu, located about 65 kilometers south of Kirkuk city.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

The consulate emphasized the US’s commitment to working with partners "in the Joint Brigades to maintain Iraq's stability, security, and sovereignty and combat persistent threats to both the United States and Iraq.”

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzan, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, and Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani on Sunday extended their condolences to the families of the victims and reiterated the need for greater cooperation between Peshmerga and Iraqi forces to counter terrorism.

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region continue to carry out regular operations against ISIS militants, and officials have said that the threat from the terror group is contained.

ISIS controlled swathes of Iraqi territory at its height in 2014, leaving Iraq with no choice but to request assistance from the United States.

The Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga fought to retake areas of the country controlled by the extremists, declaring the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2017. The global coalition has provided both forces with air and ground support.

With pressure from Iranian-backed-militia groups to force US troops out of Iraq, Baghdad and Washington agreed in September to end the military mission of the US-led global coalition against ISIS in the country within a year and transition the mission to bilateral security partnerships.

In late October, United States Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski during the MERI forum in Erbil said that the decision to end the mission of the global coalition in Iraq is proof of progress by Iraqi and Kurdish security forces and the transitioning partnership.