Baghdad, Erbil Achieve Security, Military Understandings

Emir of Kuwait when receiving the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region (KUNA)
Emir of Kuwait when receiving the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region (KUNA)
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Baghdad, Erbil Achieve Security, Military Understandings

Emir of Kuwait when receiving the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region (KUNA)
Emir of Kuwait when receiving the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region (KUNA)

Baghdad and Erbil on Tuesday took a step towards resolving their differences about disputed areas and agreed to coordinate anti-ISIS security operations in them.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command announced establishing centers for coordination between Baghdad and Erbil to facilitate the staging of joint field operations.

In a statement, the Command said that it hosted a meeting of Iraqi and Kurdish military officials in Baghdad to discuss issues of common security concern along the line separating the Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the disputed areas.

Both sides agreed to “start opening two main joint security coordination centers in Baghdad and Erbil, in addition to forming joint field security and military committees to assess security challenges.”

A delegation from the Ministry of Peshmerga visited Baghdad on Tuesday morning to discuss the establishment of coordination centers between Baghdad and Erbil.

“These efforts come to fill the security gaps separating the Iraqi federal forces and the Peshmerga,” the Command’s spokesman Major General Tahseen al-Khafaji told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Khafaji said that terror groups have been exploiting those gaps.

Addressing the coordination plans for Kirkuk and the Nineveh Plains and the deployment of Peshmerga forces there, Khafaji said: “Coordination began in Diyala province and its success will determine extending coordination to other regions.”

“The issue of the return of Peshmerga forces to Kirkuk was not discussed in this meeting,” he added.

The Secretary-General of the Kurdish Peshmerga Ministry Lieutenant General Jabbar Yawar told Asharq Al-Awsat that the arrangement reached between Baghdad and Erbil stipulates for field committees to meet in Kirkuk, Makhmur, and Nineveh to draft action plans.

Iraqi military expert and retired Brigadier General Hassan Zohair said that coordination between Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga is crucial given that it will deter armed factions and their intentions to exploit security vacuum.



UN Says ‘Deliberate’ Choices ‘Systematically’ Depriving Gazans

04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
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UN Says ‘Deliberate’ Choices ‘Systematically’ Depriving Gazans

04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
04 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Nusirat: Displaced Palestinians gather in a charity kitchen to receive aid amid a shortage of food, in Nuseirat refugee camp. (Belal Abu Amer/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)

The UN aid chief said Wednesday that recent "horrifying scenes" of Gazans being killed while seeking food aid were the result of "deliberate choices that have systematically deprived" them of essentials to survive.

A US and Israeli-backed group operating aid sites in the Gaza Strip announced the temporary closure of its facilities on Wednesday, with the Israeli army warning that roads leading to distribution centers were "considered combat zones".

The announcement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation follows a string of deadly incidents near the distribution sites it operates.

On Tuesday, 27 people were killed in southern Gaza when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF aid site, with the military saying the incident was under investigation.

"The world is watching, day after day, horrifying scenes of Palestinians being shot, wounded or killed in Gaza while simply trying to eat," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.

"Emergency medical teams have confirmed treating hundreds of trauma cases. Yesterday alone, dozens were declared dead at hospitals after Israeli forces said they had opened fire.

"This is the outcome of a series of deliberate choices that have systematically deprived two million people of the essentials they need to survive."

He echoed the call by UN chief Antonio Guterres for immediate independent investigations, saying they were not isolated incidents, and the perpetrators must be held accountable.

"No-one should have to risk their life to feed their children," said Fletcher.

The GHF began operations a week ago, but the UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Meanwhile the United Nations has described the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, after Israel partially lifted a more than two-month total blockade, as a trickle.

"We must be allowed to do our jobs: we have the teams, the plan, the supplies and the experience," said Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

"Open the crossings -- all of them. Let in life-saving aid at scale, from all directions. Lift the restrictions on what and how much aid we can bring in.

"Ensure our convoys aren't held up by delays and denials. Release the hostages. Implement the ceasefire."