In a statement released by the Iraqi Air Force, it has been announced that an agreement between Iraq’s Ministry of Defense and Peshmerga forces has been reached to establish four coordination centres in disputed areas in the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk and Nineveh. The statement also mentions that the negotiations on the working mechanism for those coordination centres are ongoing and if there will be joint operations.

But the spokesman for the Joint Operations, Major General Tahsin al-Khaffaji, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “some media outlets reported that some terrorist groups, including Daesh bandits, are sneaking into Iraqi territories from Syria,” and that “the Operations’ Command held a security meeting with the [Kurdistan] Region’s Guards, the Peshmerga, to coordinate in closing all the security gaps that could be exploited by terrorist groups.”

“The meeting led to an agreement to establish joint centres to secure the areas where the Region’s guards and central government forces are absent,” said  the spokesman, and added: “The International Coalition conducts airstrikes, the last of which was the Spanish air force striking some terrorist groups. All of these measures are aimed at combating terrorism and preventing terrorists from slipping [into Iraq] from Syrian territory.”