ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militia dismissed on Monday reports that they had withdrawn from the Zummar and Rabia region in Nineveh as “untrue and baseless.”
“A number of media outlets talk about the pullout of the Hashd al-Shaabi forces from Zummar and Rabiaa and their surrounding areas, but this news is untrue and baseless,” Ahmed al-Asadi, spokesperson of the Hashd al-Shaabi announced.
A local source told Rudaw on Sunday that around 100 vehicles in Rabia and 200 in Zummar of the Hashd al-Shaabi had pulled out of the area.
Chief of Staff of the Peshmerga Ministry Jamal Iminiki confirmed the news to Rudaw saying they were aware of the Hashd’s withdrawal.
The spokesperson of the Hashd al-Shaabi also said that “the Hashd al-Shaabi forces have stayed in all the areas where they are. They are ready to execute any order from the commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces [Haider al-Abadi] on all the frontline and areas.”
On October 17, a day after Iraqi forces and the Hashd took the oil rich city of Kirkuk, the army and Hashd al-Shaabi advanced and entered Shingal, Rabia and Zummar.
The Peshmerga and those forces later engaged in a series of clashes as the Iraqi army made an attempt to advance towards Fish Khabur bordering Syria and Ibrahim Khalil, on the border with Turkey.
However, the situation ceased after several rounds of talks between both sides.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a telephone conversation with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Saturday night that he was happy to see that tensions between the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces have recently calmed. He valued patience on both parts to protect peace.
“A number of media outlets talk about the pullout of the Hashd al-Shaabi forces from Zummar and Rabiaa and their surrounding areas, but this news is untrue and baseless,” Ahmed al-Asadi, spokesperson of the Hashd al-Shaabi announced.
A local source told Rudaw on Sunday that around 100 vehicles in Rabia and 200 in Zummar of the Hashd al-Shaabi had pulled out of the area.
Chief of Staff of the Peshmerga Ministry Jamal Iminiki confirmed the news to Rudaw saying they were aware of the Hashd’s withdrawal.
The spokesperson of the Hashd al-Shaabi also said that “the Hashd al-Shaabi forces have stayed in all the areas where they are. They are ready to execute any order from the commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces [Haider al-Abadi] on all the frontline and areas.”
On October 17, a day after Iraqi forces and the Hashd took the oil rich city of Kirkuk, the army and Hashd al-Shaabi advanced and entered Shingal, Rabia and Zummar.
The Peshmerga and those forces later engaged in a series of clashes as the Iraqi army made an attempt to advance towards Fish Khabur bordering Syria and Ibrahim Khalil, on the border with Turkey.
However, the situation ceased after several rounds of talks between both sides.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a telephone conversation with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Saturday night that he was happy to see that tensions between the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces have recently calmed. He valued patience on both parts to protect peace.
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