KIFRI, Iraq - Iraqi armed forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga on Wednesday launched a joint operation in the Kifri-Garmaser front to clear out remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) following a surge in the group’s attacks in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad that have left over twenty soldiers dead and several others injured in recent weeks.
The forces began their large security operation to clear the area from ISIS sleeper cells in the Kifri-Garmaser front, a recent target by the militant group and an area of common security between the Kurdish forces and the Iraqi army, the Peshmerga ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
A force from the Iraqi counter-terrorism services and special forces from the regional guard also took part in the inspection, Iraq's top military spokesperson Yehia Rasool said in a tweet, noting that the international coalition aviation and air forces also supported the operation.
“This operation comes within the framework of coordination and joint action, which is supervised by the Joint Operations Command to purify the areas of joint security concern from the presence of terrorist ISIS groups,” he added.
The operation followed a series of deadly ISIS attacks on the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga that led to a high-level security meeting between military leaders from Iraq and the Region, and an agreement to ramp up cooperation in the disputed territories. Twenty-two Kurdish soldiers have been killed since November 27.
ISIS seized control of swaths of land in Iraq in 2014. It was declared territorially defeated in 2017, but it remains a serious security threat, especially in areas where there is a security vacuum between Erbil and Baghdad. Efforts to form joint brigades in the disputed areas began earlier this year, but have stalled.
A number of ISIS militants attacked Dibis town in Kirkuk, killing two Iraqi soldiers on Tuesday night.
Video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
