ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Peshmerga will not withdraw from areas they have liberated from the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Nineveh Province, said a spokesperson for the Kurdish government in Erbil on Wednesday, responding to earlier comments from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

“The Peshmerga will continue their advances and will not retreat from the areas they have recently liberated from the Islamic State in Mosul,” especially on the Khazir and Gwer fronts, said Safeen Dizayee, spokesperson of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), reacting to Abadi’s declaration that the Peshmerga should stop their expansion and stay where they are.

Abadi made comments about the Peshmerga’s role in the Mosul operation on Tuesday. Speaking to a press conference in Baghdad the Iraqi prime minister said that, “The Peshmerga should stay where they are now, and they should not expand their presence even if they help the Iraqi Army.”

“No other force will enter the city of Mosul,” except for Iraqi government forces, Abadi stressed.

Abadi also explained that Baghdad “has understandings with the Kurdistan Region. During the Mosul liberation operations, the Peshmerga should not expand and they should stay where they are now even if they help the Iraqi army.”

Dizayee, however, insisted that “the Peshmerga will not stop their advances until all Kurdistan’s territories in the Nineveh region are liberated.”

He said that the “Peshmerga will not even withdraw from areas they are going to liberate in the future.”

Abadi’s comments come just days after the Peshmerga soundly defeated ISIS on the battlefield. Over Sunday and Monday, the Peshmerga captured a group of villages on the Khazir and Gwer fronts, killing 130 militants. On Tuesday, the Peshmerga killed another 60 militants in the outskirts of Shingal.