PM says co-op required for long-term security between Baghdad, Erbil
Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has stressed that cooperation between all parties is required for long-term security solutions in the disputed territories between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
A statement by the prime minister’s office said Abdul-Mahdi led a meeting of the Iraqi National Security Council, which included the acting governor of Kirkuk, Rakan Jabouri, along with commanders of security operations in Kirkuk.
The meeting tackled the predicament of Kirkuk considering the recent incidents that have taken place in the city and its surroundings.
“For effective actions to take place, all political entities must be engaged in the process,” Abdul-Mahdi said, stressing the importance of a sincere, sustained dialogue between all parties with no isolated representatives.
There has been a deteriorated security situation in Kirkuk has considerably since the Iraqi military carried out an operation in October 2017, which drove the Kurdish Peshmerga out of Kirkuk in the wake of the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum.