Abadi’s pledge, made during a phone call with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, came a day after Ankara threatened to intervene directly if the Iraqi operation against the PKK based in the shingal region failed.

Turkey has long complained that fighters of the PKK are being given free rein to operate out of shingal against Turkish targets.

“Iraqi security forces have been instructed not to allow the presence of foreign fighters in the border region,” Abadi’s office quoted him as telling Yildirim in their conversation.

The chief of Iraq’s military General Staff, Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi, echoed that message during an inspection tour on Tuesday of troops deployed in Shingal, the state-run news website Iraqi Media Network reported.

“The Iraqi army is in full control of Sinjar (Shingal) and the border strip with Turkey,” it quoted him as saying.

On Monday Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey’s intelligence chief would meet an Iraqi official to discuss the Iraqi military operation in Shingal.

Reporter’s code: 50101