Q&A: Jabar Yawar, secretary general of the KRG Ministry of Peshmerga

SULAIMANIYA - Insurgents from the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group have sustained their guerrilla-style war, largely because of security gaps resulting from political and military tensions between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

In Iraq's disputed territories - a belt of land stretching across northern Iraq, claimed by both the Kurdistan region and the federal government - IS insurgents still enjoy relative freedom of movement, enabling them to threaten local populations, security forces, and nearby oil fields.