The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs’ (MoPA) 14th Infantry Brigade conducted a joint operation in collaboration with the Iraqi Army on July 10, MoPA said in a post on X.

The operation was carried out in the villages of Kushaf, on the slopes of the Qarachukh Mountain, and on the banks of the Zey Gowra River. 

The search operation targeted hideouts and bases of ISIS militants in the area known as the Kurdistan Coordination Line, which divides positions held by Iraqi security forces and Kurdish peshmerga forces in the disputed territories.

The MoPA 14th Infantry Brigade, in collaboration with the Iraqi army, conducted a joint #operation in the area of both Kushaf villages, the slopes of the Karachukh Mount & the banks of the Zey Gowra River. In order to search for hideouts & bases of #ISIS terrorists in the area. pic.twitter.com/0Ez42txRXM

— Ministry of Peshmerga (@KRG_MOPE) July 10, 2024

A security vacuum was created in the area after Iraqi forces and Iran-backed units of the Popular Mobilization Forces attacked and pushed peshmerga forces out of the disputed territories after the Kurdistan Region’s September 2017 independence referendum. 

This vacuum has been exploited by ISIS militants, who use the area as a safe haven and a base from which to stage attacks.

The Pentagon’s quarterly inspector general report to the U.S. Congress on May 2 quoted the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS in stating that the peshmerga represented the most effective anti-ISIS force in the region, deploying tactics including aggressive patrolling, raids, and ambushes. 

The US-led coalition also reported that the Kurdish security forces under the MoPA remained reliant on coalition intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as airstrikes, to conduct sustainable and independent ground operations to defeat ISIS.

A February 2024 report quoted the U.S.-led coalition as saying that the ISIS threat in the Kurdistan Region is “largely contained” and that ISIS activities in the Kurdistan Region have been near non-existent for quite some time.

The report mentioned that the Kurdish security forces continued to conduct operations against ISIS, including 36 operations conducted independently or in partnership with the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service and various other Iraqi security forces units independent of coalition forces.