Shafaq News/ A Peshmerga Commander affirmed that all the procedures for forming the joint brigades of the Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga had been completed except for one obstacle.

The Assistant Commander of the Qarah Tapa – Hemrin axis, Maj. Gen.Muhammad Rustam Muhammad told Shafaq News Agency that the Peshmerga handed over the 20th Brigade to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and prepared all needs to deploy its forces in the disputed areas. Still, “the Federal Ministry of Defense did not secure the needed fund for the Brigade of the Iraq army, which delayed launching the coordination plans and addressing the security vacuums from the outskirts of Khanaqin in Diyala to the borders of Sinjar district.”

He explained that the tasks in these areas would be followed up equally between the ministry of defense and the Peshmerga, while the mechanisms for the deployment have not yet been determined.

The military commander pointed out that the Peshmerga now controlled most of the vacuum areas within its eight security axes between Iraqi Kurdistan and other governorates.

It is worth noting that the security vacuums between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga are one of the most critical challenges to efforts against ISIS remnants in Iraq, and the voids extend from the Syrian border in the north at Nineveh Governorate through Saladin and Kirkuk governorates, and up to Diyala on the Iranian border.

According to the Geopolitical Monitor, geographically, the area is highly strategic. It forms a strip extending from the Iraq-Syria border to the Iraq-Iran border. This area, which is 100 km long and approximately 37,000 kilometers in size, has significant tracts of arable land. In addition, Kirkuk, an oil-rich governorate, is located in the heart of this region.

The area has no barracks, houses, running water, or electricity.

Moreover, the territory forms a land bridge that links Kurdistan with the other Arab parts of Iraq.

ISIS remnants took advantage of the roughly 20-kilometer (12-mile) vacuum on the line between the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq and federal Iraq to carry out attacks.

The deadly terrorist attacks on both Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Peshmerga forces prompted Baghdad and Erbil to tackle the problem; current Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held meetings with leaders from the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga, where he asserted that a joint operations room must be set up to facilitate military cooperation and coordination under Joint Coordination Centers (JCC).

While both sides share the goal of defeating ISIS, the joint work is almost suspended.