Military denies confrontations between PMFs, Peshmerga, west of Nineveh
Iraqi army forces in Tal Afar, wsst of Nineveh.
A statement by the Joint Operations Command’s War Media Cell said, “news on clashes between al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces] and the Peshmerga troops in al-Mahmoudiya, in Rabi’a are untrue.”
Peshmerga troops announced earlier on Tuesday repulsing a wide-scale attack by PMFs in the village.
The Kurdish-owned Rudaw network quoted Peshmerga commander Mansour Barzani as saying that “PMFs troops attacked Peshmerga in Mahmoudiya.”
On Monday, a source from the Iraqi army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service, told Alghad Press that army troops are getting ready to advance toward Faysh Khabur exit, between Iraq and Turkey, within the coming few hours. He added that the exit border was located within Mosul in 2003.
Kurdish Peshmerga reportedly blocked on Sunday the main road linking between Sinjar, in Nineveh, and Duhuk, to prevent federal troops’ advance toward after being informed about plans by the federal troops to gain control on the Faysh Kahbur exit.
Iraqi troops, backed by PMFs, approached the southern borders of Erbil, capital of semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, after taking over Kirkuk province from Peshmerga earlier this month, fulfilling instructions previously made by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to retake areas where sovereignty is disputed with Kurdistan Region’s Government.