According to Sharpers, the Prime Minister of Iraq and Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Mohammad Shia Sudani, on Sunday, October 22, 2023, ordered the formation of a high-level committee to follow up on the issues and obtain information about the condition of the Makhmour camp. 

The Prime Minister of Iraq has asked the commanders of Peshmerga forces and Iraqi forces at all levels to exercise self-restraint and act based on logic and within the framework of the highest interests and increasing common interests and not provide opportunities for abuse by Iraq's enemies.

Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and a fighter of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces also died on Sunday as the two sides clashed in a mountainous northern area, Iraqi and Kurdish security sources said.

Fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had evacuated positions near the town of Makhmour on Saturday and handed them over to the Iraqi army.

But Peshmerga fighters from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the ruling party in Iraqi Kurdistan, tried to retake the positions on Sunday, triggering the clashes, the sources said.

Six Iraqi soldiers and five Peshmerga fighters were wounded. Two of the Iraqi soldiers were in critical condition, said health service sources.

According to Reuters the clashes lasted for around two hours before abating when commanders from both sides sought to defuse tensions, said military and Peshmerga sources.

But both sides are sending reinforcements to the area, said military sources, calling the situation “fragile”.

Makhmour is a mountainous area about 70 km southeast of Mosul and 60 km southwest of the Kurdish capital Erbil.

Last time armed clashes broke out between the two parties was in 2017 when Iraqi government forces launched a surprise offensive in retaliation for an independence referendum organized by the Kurdish regional government.