ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A unit of Iraq’s Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) on Sunday was spotted near an oilfield in the Kurdish-controlled but disputed town of Kifri, located in southern Sulaimani province, according to Rudaw reporter on the ground.
The unit arrived in the Kulajo town near Kifri on Sunday morning and entered the Qamar oilfield, Kurdish Peshmerga officials in the area told Rudaw’s Hunar Hamid, adding that the PMF unit arrived with nearly 400 vehicles, including bulldozers.
A Peshmerga official told Rudaw's Hunar Hamid that Sayyed Talib, identified as the PMF’s director general of security, claimed that the forces have informed Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani that they have temporarily moved to the area to “conduct a security operation” against Islamic State (ISIS) militants allegedly spotted nearby.
They will stay in the area for three days, according to the official.
The PMF moved toward the area without prior cooperation with the Peshmerga forces, with the oilfield's security being the responsibility of the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas police.
Since the PMF's arrival, about 12 oil and gas police officers have been stranded at their base. The PMF is refusing to allow the delivery of food and water to the base and has blockaded the area.
An oil and gas police official warned that the alleged presence of ISIS militants might be an excuse used by the PMF to occupy more of the Kurdish-controlled parts of the disputed territories, expressing concern that the PMF may be there to stay.
According to Peshmerga officials, the Iraqi army was also unaware of the movement of PMF fighters toward the area.
A Peshmerga commander told Rudaw later on Sunday that the PMF forces started withdrawing from the area following talks between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and relevant authorities in Baghdad.
“We do not know the reason [behind the withdrawal], but what we were told from the Peshmerga ministry is that there has been cooperation with Baghdad, and they will retreat in two to three hours,” Colonel Bakhtyar Besari said.
A PUK politburo official told Rudaw’s Peshawa Bakhtyar that the presence of the PMF force in the area was “crossing the line” and carried out without prior knowledge of the security forces in the area, calling the PMF’s movement “unacceptable”.
Kulajo, in Kifri district, is the separation line between Iraqi and Kurdish-controlled territories.
