ERBIL — Top Kurdish officials on Friday renewed a call for closer cooperation between Erbil, Baghdad, and the Global Coalition after seven Peshmerga fighters and three civilians were killed overnight near Makhmour.
“In order to protect the homeland, the Peshmerga affairs and frontlines should be reconsidered; necessary measures should be taken against those responsible for any sort of negligence, and the revenge for the blood of our martyrs should be as soon as possible,” reads a statement by Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, and President of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
In his statement, Barzani also commended the courage and resilience of a woman who lost three sons during last night’s attack in Khidir Jija village, near Qarachoq mountain, southwest of Erbil.
In a separate statement, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said the daily attacks of IS must be responded “forcefully and briskly with comprehensive defense and military strategies in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to bring a complete end to ongoing terrorist crimes and assaults.”
“Therefore, it is imperative to reassess the military conditions and capabilities, to take immediate actions to optimize coordination between the Iraqi army and the Peshmarga forces with the participation and support from the international coalition in order to fill the security and military vacuum in areas located between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi forces,” he added.
PM Masrour Barzani also extended condolences to the nation and the family of the fallen civilians and Peshmerga forces. He warned again that IS remains a serious threat to residents of the disputed territories.
“We must immediately strengthen security coordination with the federal government to stop the group’s resurgence in these areas,” he wrote in a statement. “The KRG reaffirms its readiness to help bring stability to all of the country in general and combat the terror threat in the disputed areas in particular.”