Oil fields
and a military base held by Kurdish forces near the city of Kirkuk have been
captured by Iraqi forces.
On October
16, Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite militia clashed with Kurdish
peshmerga forces around Kirkuk, an oil-rich area at the heart of disputes
between the two sides.
As reported
by Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster, tensions between
the two sides have escalated since the Iraqi Kurds overwhelmingly voted last
month for an independent state in a non-binding referendum, which
controversially included disputed territories such as Kirkuk.
Iraqi
government and Iran-backed Shiite militia, known as Popular Mobilization Units
(PMU), advanced to take control of oil fields, the airport and the
strategically-important K1 military base in and around Kirkuk city, Iraq’s
Joint Operations Command said.
In related
news, Bloomberg noted that the military offensive, which Iraqi Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi had vowed to avoid, follows three weeks of escalating tensions
since the Kurds voted overwhelmingly in favour of statehood on September 25.
Iran and
Turkey, both with their own restive Kurdish minorities, led regional opposition
to the referendum and on October 16, Turkey’s foreign ministry issued a
statement stressing the need for Iraqi unity.
It remains
unclear, however, how far Iraq’s army and its militia partners intend to
advance, but the importance of Kirkuk and the complexity of the armed alliances
increase the “potential for political and military miscalculations,” said Glen
Ransom, Iraq analyst at Control Risks in Dubai.
“The US will try to de-escalate the situation
to avoid compromising anti-Islamic State operations,” he said. This could lead
to agreements on Kurdish withdrawals from some areas and potentially joint
administration, he added.
However,
the General Command of Kurdistan’s Peshmerga Forces has warned the attack on
Kirkuk by the Iraqi forces is “a flagrant declaration of war against the nation
of Kurdistan”. In a statement released on October 16, it said the government of
the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi should pay a “heavy price” for
initiating the conflict.
“This
attack, waged by the Iraqi government, Hashd al-Shaabi and forces associated
with the Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force, is in
retaliation against the people of Kurdistan who have asked for freedom. It is
revenge against the honourable people of Kirkuk who have shown bravery,” said
the statement, which was published in full by the Kurdish media network Rudaw.
“We declare
this to every party that this attack by the Hashd and Iraqi forces was launched
by American weapons, armoured vehicles, tanks and other coalition weapons.
These American weapons have been given to the Iraqi army and Hashd under the
name of the war on [Islamic State] ISIS. This was done at a time when the
Peshmerga, also in the fight against ISIS, were not given necessary weapons to
defend themselves against the terrorists”.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/iraqi-troops-advance-kurdish-controlled-oil-fields-kirkuk/