Iraq defence chief denies formation of Kirkuk joint ops center
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kirkuk does not have a new joint operations room excluding the Kurdish Peshmerga – merely a headquarters mobilizing armed forces operating in the disputed city, the Iraqi Defense Ministry clarified on Saturday.
“First of all, what has been set up is not a joint operations center but the headquarters of the Kirkuk’s Joint Operations Command,” Brig. Yahya Rasool, commander of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, clarified to Rudaw.
Over the weekend, the head of the Kirkuk Joint Operations Command caused outrage among Kurdish officials when he said a joint operations center had been established in Kirkuk composed of different army units – but excluding the Kurdish Peshmerga.
“The formation of a forward headquarters of Joint Operations Command in Kirkuk is for the purpose of unity in commands,” Lt. Gen. Saad Harbiyah had told Rudaw.
Responding to this revelation, Kurdish officials called the move illegal and promised to appeal to Baghdad to reverse the plan and form a new force.
“There are a number of legal and constitutional errors in establishing this operation room in Kirkuk,” Shakhawan Abdullah, a member of the Kirkuk Normalization Committee, told Rudaw. “For example, members of that force are aliens and not natives to the city.”
Seeking to clarify his subordinate’s comments, Brig. Rasool said: “Concerning the Peshmerga, we have a coordinating committee for joint work. We are currently engaged in talks with the Peshmerga about some subjects.”
“The first thing is to joint coordination center between us and the Peshmerga and mutual work at some places where there are Peshmerga front lines and ours to start campaigns to clear the areas where ISIS maintains a presence.”
They have also begun field surveys to determine the best locations to establish joint bases for the Iraqi armed forces and the Peshmerga to begin operations against ISIS sleeper cells in the region, he said.
Talks are ongoing between the Peshmerga Ministry and the Iraqi Defense Ministry to delineate their lines, he added.
Noori Hama Ali, commander of the Peshmerga forces on the Pirde Front, an area where the Peshmerga and Iraqi army engaged in clashes after the events of October 16, 2017, told Rudaw that field surveys are still underway on multiple fronts between Erbil and Baghdad.
“We have started from Khanaqin all the way to the West Tigris. We are conducting the field surveys together. Once finished, the Peshmerga Ministry and the Iraqi Defense Ministry will sit and decide on the next stages,” Ali explained.
He said the process is progressing “slowly” however due to ongoing mistrust.
“The kind of trust we want has not yet been rebuilt in order for our forces to mingle with theirs to fight against ISIS, the enemy of humanity, the people of Iraq and Kurdistan,” he admitted.
Over the past month, Peshmerga and Iraqi forces have met three times.