A Peshmerga Brigade officially joins the Iraqi Ministry of Defence, Source

Shafaq News/ A brigade of the Peshmerga forces joined the Iraqi Ministry of Defense as part of the "joint Coordination" agreement between Baghdad and Erbil.

"The Ministry of Defense officially included the 20th Brigade (Second Special Brigade) of the Peshmerga in its administrative and military responsibilities to start joint operations in the security areas along with the Syrian border to Diyala." The Assistant Commander of the 2nd axis of the Peshmerga (Qarah Tabbah - Hemrin), Maj. Gen. Muhammad Rostom told Shafaq News Agency.

Rostom confirmed that the Peshmerga units in Diyala and Saladin would continue carrying out operations in the hotspots sites to prevent ISIS members from returning to their destroyed strongholds.

The "Joint Coordination" agreement between the Defense and the Peshmerga Ministries included four items: opening coordination centers, closing security vacuums between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga, deploying joint checkpoints, launching operations against ISIS, and exchanging security and intelligence information to combat terrorism.

It is worth noting that ISIS has succeeded in exploiting the security vacuums for their advantage. Their sleeper cells are becoming active and putting the security of the entire area at risk.

To tackle the problem, frequent meetings between leaders from the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga were held. As a result, both sides assert that a joint operations room must be set up to facilitate military cooperation and coordination.

The vacuum areas extend from the Syrian border in the north of the Nineveh governorate, through Saladin and Kirkuk, to Diyala on the Iranian border.