Iraqi Forces, Peshmerga Need To Join Efforts Amid IS Reorganization - Kurdish Official

GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2019) ENOA, Italy, December 23 (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko - Iraqi forces and Peshmerga, military forces of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, need to join efforts in countering the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, or ISIS, banned in Russia) in the face of its remaining presence in the country, particularly in the north-west, and its reorganization, Falah Mustafa Bakir, senior foreign policy adviser to the president of the Kurdistan Regional GENOA (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 23rd December, 2019) overnment and its former foreign minister, told Sputnik on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Lahur Talabany, senior intelligence official of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, told the BBC that the IS was now growing in Iraq like "al-Qaeda [terrorist group, banned in Russia] on steroids".

"The threat is there, and the threat is serious, especially in the areas of Nineveh, south of Kirkuk, Hamrin area, Diyala province, the western part of the country and especially in the areas between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi forces, in areas where there is no cooperation or there is no joint presence. That is why we believe Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi forces need to work together to confront this common threat," the adviser said.

He went on to say that while the US-led international coalition and its allies, including Peshmerga, had managed to oust the IS from most of the country, remnants of the terrorist group had reorganized.

"Some of the [IS] members are still around, and in the past period they have been able to reorganize themselves and they have been carrying out operations. Therefore, in the western part of Iraq and in Syria ISIS is still a threat," the adviser said.

Political instability in Syria and Iraq has created favorable conditions for the terror group to move and reorganize, according to the official, which is why intelligence sharing and military cooperation are now more important than ever.

In December 2017, the Iraqi leadership declared victory over the Islamic State after fighting it for over three years. Nevertheless, the international coalition against the terrorist group, which was established in 2014, remained in the country to assist the government in creating a sustainable Iraqi security force that could secure the nation's borders and ensure a lasting victory over the terrorist group.

Despite these efforts, however, terrorists continue to conduct raids and attacks across the country.