WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Vice President Joe Biden has spoken with Iraqi Kurdistan Regional President Masoud Barzani following attacks against Kurds carried out by Islamic State (ISIL) extremists on Friday, the White House announced in a statement.
"The Vice President called [on Saturday afternoon] to express condolences for the Kurdish Peshmerga executed by ISIL," the statement, released on Saturday, said.
Biden and Barzani agreed to reinforce the "collective resolve" to defeat ISIL, which has ceased vast areas in Iraq and Syria.
On Friday, two ISIL suicide bombers blew themselves up in the northeastern Syrian city of al-Hasakah during Nowruz (Kurdish/Iranian New Year) celebrations. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 45 people, including at least five children, were killed in the attacks.
The government forces of both Syria and Iraq, a US-led international coalition, as well as the Peshmerga (Kurdish militia) have all been fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State.
Last week, Iraqi Kurdish forces backed by US and coalition airstrikes pushed ISIL militants out of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, taking some 40 square miles of territory, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq.
