Iraq
Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) withdrawing from Kulajo town near Kifri, southern Sulaimani province on August 25, 2024. Photo: Rudaw/screengrab
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) commander said on Sunday that their unit’s entry into a Kurdish-controlled oilfield was coordinated with the Peshmerga, a claim some Kurdish officials and Peshmerga forces have denied, stating they were not informed.
A unit of Iraq’s Iran-backed PMF entered the Qamar oilfield near Kulajo town in the Kurdish-controlled, but disputed, Kifri district on Sunday, prompting concerns from Kurdish officials who reported that the unit arrived with nearly 400 vehicles, including bulldozers.
“We conducted this operation in the area in coordination with Peshmerga forces,” Talib al-Moussawi, PMF Diyala operations commander, told Rudaw, citing intelligence on ISIS presence obtained from their drones.
However, an oil and gas police official on the condition of anonymity expressed concerns to Rudaw that the alleged ISIS presence could be a pretext for the PMF to expand control over Kurdish-held disputed territories.
A Peshmerga official told Rudaw that Sayyed Talib, the PMF’s director general of security, claimed that the forces informed PUK leader Bafel Talabani about their temporary move to the area.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) reported that the PMF operation was conducted without informing the official forces in the area, emphasizing that "the Peshmerga and security institutions of the area should have been informed, and their operation should have been done in coordination."
According to Peshmerga officials, the Iraqi army was also unaware of the movement of PMF fighters toward the area.
Later, the PMF forces started withdrawing from the area following talks between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and relevant authorities in Baghdad, according to Peshmerga officials.
Kulajo, in the Kifri district, is the separation line between Iraqi and Kurdish-controlled territories.
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