This evening, local Kirkuk time, the Peshmerga forces in around Kirkuk ended a major attack on ISIS positions with verifiable success. The operation that began a little over 24 hours earlier was a planned push by the Peshmerga to liberate key positions that were deemed essential to the safety of Kirkuk residents and the stability of the situation in city.

The operations were led by the field commander, Deputy Chairman of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and the Deputy President of the Kurdistan Region, Mr. Kosret Rasoul Ali; known locally as Kak Kosret [Kak being the honorary Kurdish title indicating the status of an older brother]. In the interest of disclosure, I worked for Kak Kosret as his interpreter and Media Office Director in mid-90s, when he was the Prime Minster of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Kurds reported major accomplishments, capturing swaths of land and creating a major buffer zone between the city and ISIS locations. They report that for the first time in Kurdish combat history military helicopters were used in the operation.

The timing of this military operation is significant when taking into account the political situation in Iraqi Kurdistan. The region is witnessing major political negotiations between the political parties in the parliament. They are trying to come to a solution, agreeable to all sides, on who will be the next president of the Kurdistan Region.

Earlier this month the already once extended term of the current president Mr. Massoud Barzani legally ended. Members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Barzani’s political faction, within the parliament as well as some other parliamentarians desired an extension to Barzani’s presidency, citing the abnormal security situation in Kurdistan in light of continued threat from ISIS.

This sentiment was echoed by outsiders, friends of the Kurds, at a Parliamentary session last week. The US Ambassador, Deputy Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran, at the U.S. Department of State, Mr. Brett McGurk as well as the United Kingdom Ambassador to Iraq, a longtime acquaintance of mine, Mr. Frank Baker and other members of the UN and international community attended a session of the Kurdish parliament meeting. They all urged a continuity of Mr. Barzani’s presidency for security reasons.

The meetings of the parliament and the different groups within the parliament, outside of the parliament, have become a daily event. People are placing bets on Facebook whether the following day there will be a meeting of three, four, or five groups of the parliament. The situation is no joking matter though. While the post of the presidency is one of symbolic status, the gap it leaves if kept empty, will create division among the Kurdish parties. A situation that will inevitably effect the anti-ISIS efforts.

This recent military operation may indicate that at least at the top, between the KDP President Mr. Barzani, and PUK Deputy President Mr. Ali, there is a semblance of normalcy in relations that allowed for the latter to spend time on the front lines with ISIS.