MESOP : Kurds willing to see anti- IS alliance troops in Iraq

Kurdistan Region’s Security Council Chancellor believes the Anti-IS coalition strikes are not enough to defeat the group and more ground troops are needed to bring an end to the jihadist group.He hinted that entering anti-IS coalition ground forces and their cooperation with the Kurdish forces of Peshmerga are needed to bring an end to the extremists.

Masrour Barzani told Al-Jazeera that waiting for forces being trained by the US at the moment to be ready for the fight allows IS to regroup, meaning that taking ground back from the insurgents is extremely difficult.“To wait until the training is completed, until these forces, especially in Iraq, are coming to a position where they can drive IS out, that will take a longer time, so I believe that there has to be a way of bringing more forces to the ground and not only depend on the air strikes,” he said. Asked if he was calling for foreign forces on the ground Barzani said, “I wouldn’t be calling [for] that, that depends on how quickly does the international community want to get rid of IS.”As the question of a united Iraq continues to be raised, he suggested that the country can remain together, but within new parameters, “I hope the structure remains based on federalism, and perhaps a more loose kind of unity, maybe confederation would be best to address this existing problem.”