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Iraq military, Kurdish Peshmerga forces launch joint campaign against Daesh

September 18, 2021 at 2:33 pm

A view of military vehicles as US-led anti-Daesh coalition provides 150 vehicles to the Peshmerga forces of Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (IKRG) in Erbil, Iraq on September 08, 2021 [Karzan Mohammad – Anadolu Agency]

Iraqi military and Kurdish Peshmerga forces have launched a joint security campaign against Daesh in the areas without security forces, the Iraqi Ministry of Defence announced on Friday.

The campaign is dubbed “joint operations” and is being followed up by the Iraqi Defence Ministry, Anadolu Agency reported.

It is the first time that the Iraqi military has officially announced carrying out a joint security operation with the Peshmerga since 2014.

“The Joint Cooperation Centres have started carrying out joint missions in the areas empty of federal security divisions located between the federal forces and the Peshmerga in order to undermine movement of terrorist groups,” the statement conveyed.

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The statement added: “These operations are part of the joint work to fight Daesh,” noting that federal government forces are being prepared to take positions in these areas.

The empty areas, which have been vacant of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces since 2017, have been used by Daesh and are considered one of the main challenges in the fight against the terrorist group due to the lack of security forces.

Last year, the Iraqi military and the Peshmerga formed four joint centres to exchange information and fight Daesh in these areas.

In 2017, Iraq announced its victory against Daesh, which occupied one-third of the country in 2014, but the terrorist group still maintains sleeper cells in different parts across the country.