The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq has formally asked the US-led coalition to deploy observers to patrol its border with the Kurdish-controlled northeast of Syria, where a US-backed Kurdish militia and its various affiliates have governed since 2012, Al-Monitor has learned.

Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), made the request to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a telephone call Tuesday at noon EST, Iraqi Kurdish officials told Al-Monitor. The officials declined to comment on Pompeo's reaction. The exchange with Pompeo follows a formal request relayed during Barzani's Dec. 21 meeting with the commanding general of the Special Operations Joint Task-Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, Brig. Gen. Guillaume Beaurpere.

The US Consul General to Erbil Rob Waller was present at the meeting to discuss coordination between the KRG’s Peshmerga forces and the US-led coalition.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Barzani’s deputy chief of staff Aziz Ahmad outlined why the KRG wants US forces stationed in and around the Fish Khabur border crossing, which is the key supply hub for coalition forces stationed in northeast Syria.