Gen. Yahya Rasoul, spokesman for the General Commander of the Iraq Armed Forces, confirmed in an interview with the official Iraqi News Agency that no agreement has been reached between Baghdad and Erbil over the return of the Peshmerga forces to Kirkuk province.

On a recent agreement between the Iraqi Army Joint Operations Command and the Commander of the Kurdistan Regional Peshmerga Forces on the construction of joint coordination centers to secure areas that there are no Kurdish and federal, the general said that co-ordination centers in the three provinces od Kirkuk, Nainawa and Diyali will include representatives from the defense and interior ministries of the federal government, military units and the Ministry of Peshmerga.

“Representatives of the ministries of defense and interior, the other military forces, and the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs participated in the [meeting] with the aim of exchanging information and tracking down the terrorist movements,” he said, referring to the Islamic State (IS) militants who continue to operate in the disputed areas.

“The meeting between us focused on filling the security gap between the borders of the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, which is used by the terrorists to attack,” he added.

Reporter’s code: 50101