Peshmerga, Iraqi Defense to form two joint brigades
ERBIL, Iraq (North Press) – The Supreme Committee for Coordination and Military Action between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq announced that it secured the budget to form two joint brigades between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi forces in the buffer zones.
“Issues related to securing the budget impede the agreement to form two joint brigades between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi forces (..), so the plan to form the two brigades will be implemented once these problems are resolved,” Jabbar Yawar, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Peshmerga, told North Press last week.
Today, a delegation headed by the Deputy Commander of Joint Iraqi Operations, Abdul-amir al-Shammari, arrived at Erbil International Airport to participate in the periodic meeting of the Supreme Committee for Coordination and Military Action between the federal government of Iraq and the KRG.
The committee discussed issues related to the joint coordination centers between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army in Diyala, Kirkuk, Makhmur and Nineveh, and their activation, according to official statements.
Last month, the Ministry of Peshmerga announced that it had reached an agreement with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense to form two joint brigades.
“During the meeting, an agreement was reached on the structuring of the brigades that had been agreed upon previously,” Jabbar Yawar said, in a statement to official Iraqi media.
The work of the two brigades is concentrated in the buffer zones between the line of deployment of the Peshmerga forces and that of the Iraqi forces, according to Yawar.
The budget for the two brigades, in terms of salaries, supplies, vehicles and weapons, will be secured, and they will be directly linked to the Ministry of Defense and joint operations.
It is scheduled that a formal order will be issued with the aim of arming these forces within the allocations determined by the Iraqi government, and their connection, in all respects, to the Joint Operations Command, according to Yawar.