Iraqi Kurdish vice-president meets US army official as IS militants kill two policemen in Kirkuk

The vice president of Iraqi Kurdistan's regional government met with US army officials to discuss security, as the Islamic State group launched another deadly overnight attack in Iraq.

Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa spoke with Colonel Michael Cullinane, the US chief of operations in Iraq, and Major Peter Blades, another military official, according to a tweet late Monday.

Vice President Mustafa said they discussed the latest round of US-Iraqi strategic dialogue, as well as Washington's support for Iraqi Kurdistan's Peshmerga forces.

Late last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and US President Joe Biden concluded talks in Washington that focused in part on the withdrawal of US combat troops, with New Year's Eve 2021 earmarked for an end to all US combat operations in Iraq. The remaining US soldiers there will shift to a training and advisory role for Iraq's military.

A Kurdish official who spoke to The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration was still dependent on support from the US-led coalition in its fight against the remnants of IS, formally defeated in 2017.

The official expressed concerns about the security situation in parts of Iraq where control is disputed between Baghdad and Erbil, including Kirkuk, and districts in Nineveh, Salahaddin, and Diyala.

Still, Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga are working together on security in some areas that have seen an uptick in IS attacks on security forces and civilians.

It comes after another overnight attack by an IS sleeper cell in Kirkuk, resulting in the deaths of two federal police officers. Iraq's security media said its forces clashed with the perpetrators, killing one IS militant.

Security in the disputed territories is complicated by the presence of Iran-backed militias, who have tried to entrench their influence in parts of Iraq by creating local armed groups with ties to Tehran.