“There is no return of the Peshmerga forces to Kirkuk governorate…The Joint Operations Command, which exercises control and command through the forward headquarters in the governorate, is in direct contact with all relevant parties,” Khafaji was quoted as saying by the state-run Iraqi News Agency on Wednesday, August 19.

Khafaji pointed to ongoing senior-level coordination between the Iraqi Security Forces and the Peshmerga as part of the effort to mitigate the threat of the IS militant cells that operate out of Kirkuk and the disputed areas.

For much of the fight against Islamic State, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Peshmerga controlled Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic, oil rich province claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil.

Following the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum in 2017, the Peshmerga was pushed out by a combined force of the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Since then, a security vacuum has developed in the disputed areas, which also include parts of Nineveh, Saladin, and Diyala governorates, which has allowed IS the space and opportunity to launch attacks against civilian and military targets.

With the help of the Global Coalition to Defeat IS, Baghdad and Erbil have sought to increase security cooperation to meet the threat posed by IS’ operations in the disputed areas, but the return of the Peshmerga is a potent political issue, seen by some in the Kurdistan Region as a necessary and natural step, but a provocative encroachment by others in federally-controlled areas.

Reporter’s code: 50101