Peshmerga are in their homeland, won’t hand over territory, says commander

Peshmerga are in their homeland, won’t hand over territory, says commander

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Peshmerga forces during the Mosul offensive. Photo: Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – There is no agreement between Erbil and Baghdad regarding Peshmerga withdrawal from areas the Kurdish forces liberated after the launch of the Mosul operation on October 17, a senior Kurdish commander said in response to remarks made by the spokesperson for the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi force. 

“Where should Peshmerga go?” Kamal Kirkuki told Rudaw on Tuesday. “Peshmerga are in their homeland. We are going nowhere.”

Ahmad al-Asadi from the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi who are fighting ISIS west of Mosul as part of the military operation, told Irani Mehr News agency on Sunday that Baghdad and Erbil had agreed to the withdrawal of Peshmerga forces from liberated areas after the defeat of ISIS. 

“There is an agreement signed between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, between brother Masoud Barzani and Dr. Haider al-Abadi which stipulates the withdrawal of the Kurdish forces after the liberation of Mosul to the areas where they were before the launch of the operation.”

Kirkuki said the Peshmerga would not withdraw and they have an obligation to save Kurdish areas from terrorists, now and in the future. 

“We will not hand over the liberated areas to a defeated army,” he said in reference to the Iraqi army that retreated when ISIS militants swept through Mosul and northern Iraq in the summer of 2014.

In mid-November, Kurdish President Masoud Barzani said that an agreement was in place between his government, and the governments of Iraq and the United States that the Kurdish forces would not withdraw from lands they reclaimed from ISIS before the start of the Mosul operation. 

“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 said in a speech in Bashiqa shortly after it was liberated by the Peshmerga. 

“There will be no negotiations about territories liberated by Peshmerga before the Mosul offensive,” he stressed. 

Regarding land that has come under Peshmerga control since October 17, these territories “will be left to locals to defend,” Barzani said. “Peshmerga will help where possible. We will not abandon you.”

“Our only goal is to protect the security of people in these areas and for the Peshmerga to back it. We will never ever again let you be displaced and you can count on us for that,” he said. 

Kurdish authorities have said they have extended their territories by as much as 40 percent since 2014.