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Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Iraqi troops
come to a standoff near Syrian border
28.7.2012 |
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July 28, 2012
ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — To
ease Friday’s standoff between the Iraqi army and
Kurdish Peshmerga forces near the Syrian border, the
chief of staff of the ministry of Peshmerga said
that American officials are talking to Iraqi and
Kurdish authorities.
“The Iraqi forces have not yet withdrawn from the
Fishkkapur region,” Anwar Hajji Osman, ministry of
Peshmerga’s chief of staff told Rudaw. “But the
Americans are in dialogue with Kurdish and Iraqi
leaders to solve the problem.”
On Friday the ministry of Peshmerga said that the
Iraqi government had sent troops to the border strip
between Syria and the Kurdistan Region and that
3,000 Peshmerga fighters stationed in the area had
stopped their advance.
There was serious concern about armed clashes
between both sides.
“Because of the tense situation in Syria and the
border regions in particular, the Iraqi government
has put its armed forces on alert from Muwel region
all the way down to Ramadi,” said Jabbar Yawar, the
spokesperson for the ministry of Peshmerga. “But no
conflict has occurred so far and we have asked all
sides to control themselves.”
Kurdish leaders believe Iraqi troops were sent to
the region to secure Syria’s eastern border for the
regime of Bashar Assad. The deployment of forces was
intended to seize control of Fishkhapur border
crossing in Zakho district that is Kurdistan
Region’s only border with Syria.
“The Iraqi forces moved to the area with prearranged
plans and they have come in full military capacity
in order to occupy the border region,” Hajji Osman
said.
Hajji Osman said that the 3rd Peshmerga division
capable of repelling any attack is deployed to the
region supported by artillery.
Following the liberation of most Kurdish cities in
Syria and the announcement by Kurdish President
Massoud Barzani last week that Syrian Kurdish
soldiers have been trained in the Kurdistan Region
for self-defense,www.ekurd.net
Iraqi authorities led by Prime Minister Nuri Maliki
vowed to protect Iraq’s border with Syria and they
demanded investigation into the report.
Friday’s deployment of Iraqi troops came as part of
an Iraqi plan to ensure unwanted armed elements do
not infiltrate Iraq from Syria. But Hajji Osman
said, “As Kurdistan’s Peshmerga forces we will not
allow the events of 2008 in Saadiya and Jalawla be
repeated here and we ask the Iraqi troops to
withdraw or they will be responsible for any
consequences.”
In 2008, the Iraqi army marched into Jalawla and
Saadiya areas in northern Diyala province in what
they called an operation “to drive out terrorist
groups” and they have stayed in the area ever since.
The border region near Syria falls within disputed
territories claimed by Kurds and the Iraqi
government and the 2005 constitution stipulates a
solution through Article 140.
The Peshmerga are Kurdistan Region’s official armed
forces. Kurdish political parties, mainly the
Kurdistan Democratic Party [KDP] and the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan [PUK] independently had their own
Peshmerga forces until they recently integrated
under the ministry of Peshmerga.
According to Yawar, Iraqi border guards have
patrolled the 27-kilometer border strip between
Syria and the Kurdistan Region since 2003 and an
agreement between Erbil and Baghdad stipulates that
no other forces are allowed in the area.
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