Since ISIS swept across Iraq in June 2014, taking over Mosul and other territories left undefended by fleeing Iraqi forces, the Peshmerga have pushed the militants out of many of those territories, mainly in so-called „disputed areas“ that were claimed by both the federal government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Kurdistan authorities have said that the Peshmerga have reclaimed some 90 percent of Kurdish lands that were in dispute, and Barzani said Wednesday that those lands shall remain under the KRG‘s control