Both sides agreed to form six working groups to discuss the technical aspects of the situation in the disputed areas, including Kirkuk, which are expected to report back to the full committee on their findings in the near future.

Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Qaraman Kamal told NRT on Monday, March 4, that officials from both sides had visited the disputed areas to observe the situation first-hand and had made reports to their respective governments.

“The progress of the working groups has reached the final phase. In the future, they will reconvene the main joint committee between the Peshmerga ministry and the federal defense ministry,” Kamal said.

The US-led Coalition is reportedly monitoring the process.

Separately, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) center in Kirkuk Ghafur Salih said that the Peshmerga cannot return to Kirkuk in a near future because the city is fully under the control of the Hashd al-Shaabi and other forces.

“The agreement should be implemented phase-by-phase and the Peshmerga will return to the disputed areas through a legal procedure,” Salih stated.

According to the report the plan under consideration will see the Peshmerga return to Kirkuk and the disputed areas in three stages:

In the first stage, a joint operations room will be formed at the K1 military base. The room will consist of six senior Peshmerga officers: three from the PUK and three from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

In the second stage, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the central government will reduce the number of central government and Peshmerga personnel squaring off across the disputed areas, which were deployed there after October 2017.

In the third and final stage, the Peshmerga and the central government forces will jointly manage protection for Kirkuk and the other disputed areas, while local security will be the responsibility of the federal police and other forces within the federal interior ministry.

The plan will include all the disputed areas in Kirkuk, Diyala, Nineveh, and Saladin governorates.

Reporter’s code: 50101