ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi army briefly detained a Peshmerga member at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kirkuk and confiscated his weapons, Kurdish officials said.
A Kurdish commander said the 32-year-old Kirkuk city resident was detained for carrying multiple weapons including a pistol and a Kalashnikov rifle.
Security is tightening amid concerns over instability in Syria and Islamic State (ISIS) threats to Iraq, a senior Kurdistan Region officer in the Iraqi Joint Operations Command told Rudaw on Thursday.
“Following the events in Syria, Iraqi government checkpoints have been tightened. The army is questioning people and specifically searching for weapons… to prevent ISIS from infiltrating. The Peshmerga member was detained within this context for carrying weapons,” the officer said.
Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Region stepped up border and internal security following weeks of fighting and instability in neighboring Syria that drove Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) out of former ISIS strongholds, triggering ISIS prison breaks and international fears of an ISIS resurgence.
Iraqi officials have warned that breaches or infiltrations by ISIS prisoners pose a serious security threat to Iraq.
According to a Peshmerga commander familiar with the matter, the detainee was released after coordinating with Iraqi officials.