ERBIL — A local official from Kifri district of Sulaymaniyah province, Kurdistan Region, said that tensions had emerged between the Peshmerga forces and a unit of the Iraqi Army in the area on Monday.
According to Kamal Ibrahim, a local representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Kifri, a unit of the Iraqi Army intended to establish an outpost near the Kurdish town without a previous agreement between Erbil and Baghdad.
Ibrahim confirmed that the Iraqi soldiers fired warning shots after the Peshmerga forces prevented their advance into the area.
The Iraqi forces reportedly argued that their presence in the area was merely to help securing the region against the Islamic State (IS) activities.
However, Ibrahim said the Iraqi forces have proven to be unable to secure the areas under their control, and that they are not allowed inside the Kurdistan Region territories without an official agreement.