Mahmoud Xoshnaw, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), told Iraqi media that the outgoing prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, has incorporated 20,000 Syrians in other KDP-affiliated forces, including Zêrevan.

Mahmoud Xoshnaw said: “These appointments were made with large salaries, which caused the Baghdad government's discomfort. When the Iraqi Economic Commission visited the Kurdistan Region, government officials made changes to the list of salaried employees because the central government had stopped the salaries of these people. The government replaced the names of Syrians with the names of Iraqi citizens so that their salaries would not be stopped.”

Regarding the Baghdad government's discomfort, Mahmoud Xoshnaw said: “The main reason for the Iraqi government's discomfort was the Kurdistan Regional Government's refusal to send the list of names of its forces to the central government. This issue led to a political and financial crisis between Baghdad and Hewlêr (Erbil). Relations between the two sides have reached a breaking point over the distribution of oil and border revenues. This case may lead to a deeper examination of labour and employment policies in the region. It also shows that the pressure on Masrour Barzani's government should be increased and the ambiguities in these lists should be made more transparent.”