Kurdish Peshmerga forces oversee digging of defensive trenches in the village of Lheiban , Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. For the first time since the defeat of Islamic State, federal Iraqi forces and Kurdish peshmerga are coordinating to close security gaps along a disputed zone in northern Iraq, as part of their ongoing fight against the militants. (AP Photo/Samya Kullab) LHEIBAN, Iraq (AP) — As a backhoe dug up the ground to build trenches, Iraqi soldiers scanned the vast farming tracts for militants; not far away, their Kurdish counterparts did the same. The scene earlier this month in the small northern Iraqi farming village of Lheiban was a rare instance of coordination between the federal government and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The two sides were fortifying a joint position aimed at defending the village against attacks by the Islamic State group. Despite a long-standing territorial dispute, Baghdad and Iraq’s […]