KRG PM Barzani, US VP Pence discuss security in Iraq’s disputed areas
Barzani gave Pence “an update on the security situation in Iraq’s disputed territories and underscored the importance of continued US support to stabilize these areas,” read the White House statement.
Iraq declared ISIS defeated in December 2017, but the group remains a serious security threat, especially in disputed areas where there are security gaps between Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
Rudaw has reported on militants freely moving around in the Makhmour area.
On Wednesday, the global coalition against ISIS supported an Iraqi offensive against ISIS, launching an airstrike against militants in Wadi Ashai, Kirkuk province, the coalition announced on Thursday.
"Although the territory once held by the so-called caliphate is fully liberated, Daesh fighters still exhibit their intention to exert influence and stage a comeback," said Maj. Gen. Chad Franks, deputy commander-operations and intelligence for the coalition, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command reported killing six ISIS members in a raid in Kirkuk province on Thursday.
Barzani and Pence also discussed “opportunities to deepen the US partnership with Kurdistan and work more closely to counter malign actors that seek to destabilize Iraq and undermine its sovereignty,” the White House stated in a veiled reference to Iran.
Washington is trying to get Baghdad and Erbil to lessen their ties with neighbour Iran, which the administration of US President Donald Trump administration has labelled the world’s worst “state sponsor of terror.”
The US has labelled Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terror organization, though Iraq may benefit from a watering down of sanctions announced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday.
America’s deputy special envoy to the coalition, Ambassador William Roebuck, visited Barzani in Erbil on Thursday, the KRG stated.
