ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Efforts aimed at unifying the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces are expected to be completed by the end of the month, an official said Sunday.

The process, overseen by the international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), is set to incorporate Unit 80 forces, controlled by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Unit 70 forces, affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), into the Peshmerga ministry as two brigades.

The two formations make up the majority of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, numbering over 150,000 troops.

“There is very good understanding and progress from all sides regarding the unification of Peshmerga forces, and all efforts are directed toward completing the Peshmerga forces unification process by March 1 of this year,” Bakhtiyar Mohammed, secretary-general of the Peshmerga ministry, told The New Region.

He also hoped that a decision will be made on establishing the military sectors that will incorporate the different divisions and brigades by the end of the week.

One of the key objectives of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) ninth cabinet has been the Peshmerga reform process, with a number of brigades controlled by the two parties already incorporated into the ministry.

The unification is part of an understanding between the Peshmerga ministry and the US-led global coalition.