The UN Counter-Terrorism Office warned in an August report that 10,000 ISIS forces are still active in the Iraqi-Syrian border, and that attacks have increased over the past year. Officials in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the central government have stressed in recent months that an effective fight against ISIS in Iraq is possible through coordination between the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Region and other Iraqi forces.
VOA quoted Yahya Rassoul, a senior official in the Iraqi Armed Forces, as saying that the KRG Peshmerga forces are part of Iraq's defense system and that there is now joint coordination between Iraqi federal forces and Peshmerga forces to conduct joint operations against terrorist forces such as ISIS.
During his visit to the Kurdistan Region last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi met with officials in the Kurdish region to discuss how to fight against terrorist forces such as ISIS, according to VOA.
The website of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government also published a statement last Friday as saying that Iraqi and Kurdish officials stressed on the need for continued cooperation and security coordination between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi federal forces.
Hussein Ali Allawi, a professor at Nahrin University in Baghdad and a national security expert, stressed on the importance of coordination between the Peshmerga and Iraqi federal forces and stated that: "Iraqi officials are also seeking coordination with the Syrian Kurdish-Arab forces to protect Syria- Iraq border jointly and defend Iraq from the invasion of terrorist forces such as ISIS.
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