Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) President Masud Barzani met with General Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), in Erbil, the KRG’s website has reported.
Barzani has accused that the Hashd al-Shaabi, the paramilitary Iraqi forces also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), is complicating the security and political situation in Mosul and broader Nineveh Province.
According to the KRG, Barzani briefed Votel, who arrived in Erbil at the head of a large military delegation, about recent military operations by the Hashd al-Shaabi near Iraq’s border with Syria.
Gen. Joseph Votel, Centcom commander, Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, head of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria, and Douglas Silliman, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, were reportedly present at the meeting.
Incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces late last year, the Hashd al-Shaabi fighting force drawn up in 2014 to fight the Islamic State jihadist group.
“The KRG requires a joint military, political and administrative plan regarding ongoing operations to recapture Mosul,” Barzani was quoted as saying, adding that there was no plan yet as to how the city would be administered after its liberation.
Barzani went on to cite a U.S.-brokered military agreement between the KRG and Iraq’s central government.
“The agreement calls on the Iraqi army and Peshmerga forces to form a joint military force tasked with purging Tal Afar and Sinjar of terrorist entities,” Barzani said.
He went on, however, to accuse the Hashd al-Shaabi of acting unilaterally and causing “confusion and trouble”.
"We [the KRG] have a right to be concerned about problems that could potentially arise due to a lack of political and administrative coordination. Such hidden agendas only create more problems and can negatively affect the fight against terrorism,” he was quoted as saying.
“What’s more, it is unacceptable for any force to violate the KRG’s borders and impose its will on the region," Barzani added after he complained to the U.S.
Votel, for his part, stressed that Washington would continue to provide aid to the Peshmerga.
The U.S. general also reportedly delivered a letter to Barzani, the content of which was not revealed, from U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis.
