Iraqi, Kurdish forces to coordinate on anti-Daesh op.

By Hussein al-Amir

BAGHDAD

The Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces have reached an agreement for military coordination on an ongoing offensive aimed to recapture the Daesh-held Hawija district in northern Iraq, according to a Kurdish military source.

The deal was reached during a meeting on Sunday between Iraqi and Kurdish commanders in Kiwan airbase, southwest of Kirkuk province, Captain Kamran Mahmoud told Anadolu Agency.

“The two sides have agreed to avoid any friction between their forces on the ground,” he said, adding that Kurdish forces will be responsible for hunting down fleeing Daesh militants.

He said the agreement also tackles the deployment of forces following the expulsion of Daesh militants from the area.

On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced the launch of twin operations aimed at “liberating” both Saladin’s Shirqat district and Kirkuk’s Hawija district.

Daesh has recently suffered a string of watershed military defeats.

Last month, the group was driven from Tal Afar in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province. And one month earlier, the city of Mosul -- once the capital of Daesh’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” -- fell to the army after a nine-month siege.