Iraq’s ban on international flights to the Kurdistan Region is having no impact on US military and humanitarian aid to the embattled Kurds, Pentagon officials told Al-Monitor.

Regional airlines are abiding by last month’s order from Iraq’s Transport Ministry to reroute international flights to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah through Baghdad, despite disruptions to passengers and cargo. But airports in both Kurdish cities remain open for domestic flights from Baghdad, giving the United States a lifeline to provide weapons and other supplies to Erbil.

The Defense Department indicates those deliveries have continued despite the expiration of a yearlong agreement to provide salaries and arms to peshmerga fighters in September.

“Military and humanitarian flights into and out of Erbil have not been affected by the situation in the Kurdish region,” a spokesman for the US-led operation against the Islamic State (IS) told Al-Monitor. “We will continue to work with our partners in Iraq to take the fight to [IS] and eliminate them as a threat to the Iraqi people, and to the world.”