Peshmerga-Iraqi army lines stand as agreed in Mosul

The borders between the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces will be as they were the day before the Mosul operation began, the Peshmerga ministry said in a statement.

“According to an agreement signed for the Mosul liberation operation between the Kurdistan Region and the Iraqi federal government under the monitoring of the Coalition, it had been decided that the borderlines between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army remain as they were on the day before the Mosul liberation operation started,” read the statement from Peshmerga Ministry spokesperson Halgurd Hikmat.

“Now both sides will be committed to the agreement and in the coming days, the borderlines will be reorganized as per the agreement,” said Hikmat. The Mosul operation was launched one year ago, October 17, 2016. In a historic move, Kurdish and Iraqi forces fought side-by-side to liberate the Iraqi city from ISIS.

“We have a deal with America, between the Pentagon and the Peshmerga ministry – and with the Iraqi government – that the defense lines before the Mosul operation are non-negotiable,” Barzani declared on November 16 in the recently liberated town of Bashiqa. He warned that, even though ISIS was nearing defeat in Iraq, Kurdistan cannot become complacent.
“We don't know what will come to us after ISIS. We cannot say ISIS is gone and let’s relax now. This kind of challenge and threat will always be there. Therefore we should do for the Peshmerga several times more than what we ever did in the past – better organize ourselves, upgrade our weapons, improve our training and be ready for any threat.”
 Over the past two days, Peshmerga forces have withdrawn from a number of disputed areas including Kirkuk, Shingal, Gwer, Makhmour, Khanaqin, and Snune. These areas are now in the control of Iraqi armed forces and Iranian-backed Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi.
 Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani confirmed that the pre-Mosul borders have become “the basis of understanding for the mechanism of deploying Iraqi and Kurdistan Region forces,” he said in a statement on Tuesday evening. Peshmerga took control of Kirkuk city in June 2014, after the Iraqi forces withdrew in the face of ISIS advances.
 Shingal, Gwer, Makhmour, and Snune all came under Kurdish control during the war against ISIS before the Mosul offensive. Khanaqin has been under Peshmerga control since 2003.

On the other hand, Iraqi government and paramilitary forces killed three Islamic State militants on Wednesday near a lake in Anbar province, a paramilitary commander said as the province awaits the liberation of the group’s last havens there.

Alsumaria News quoted Qatari al-Obaidi, a senior commander at Anbar’s tribal forces, saying that tribal forces, backing army troops, killed three Islamic State members near al-Thirthar lake, north of the province.

Since Islamic State militants took over large areas of Iraq and Syria to establish a self-styled “caliphate” in 2014, Iraqi government forces, backed paramilitary troops and U.S.-led coalition, launched a wide-scale campaign to retake those regions.

So far, the offensives managed to retake Mosul, the group’s former capital, the town of Tal Afar, Kirkuk’s Hawija and Anbar’s Annah. Only Qaim and neighboring Rawa currently remain in IS grip.

Local authorities and human rights agencies believe Islamic State members are holding tens of thousands of civilians in western Anbar as future human shields, having killed hundreds for attempting to escape.

A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 196 civilians were killed, while 381 others were wounded due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of September

On political side, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi received a phone call from France’s President Emmanuel Macron to discuss latest developments as Iraqi forces complete the takeover of Kirkuk province from Kurdish troops.

According to a statement from Abadi’s media office late Tuesday, the call discussed Iraqi operations in Kirkuk as well as counter-terrorism efforts and bilateral relations.

“Abadi stressed that measures taken by the Iraqi government were legal and constitutional, seeking to impose federal government authority over Kirkuk,” said the statement.

It added that Macron voiced his support for”the constitutional steps taken by the Iraqi government to preserve Iraq’s unity,”  read the statement.

The call came as Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said its forces “completed security enforcement duties in what is left of Kirkuk” in addition to Kurdish-held regions in Nineveh.

Iraqi forces seized Kirkuk’s main oil fields, military bases, airports and government facilities as part of an operation that launched late Sunday. Baghdad had declared intentions to retake areas disputed on with Erbil following the Kurdistan Region’s vote for independence from Iraq in September.

Baghdad has reiterated it would never recognize the result of the independence referendum, while Erbil insisted it should be the basis of future negotiations on disputed issues.