Iraqi forces move into center of Kirkuk
Iraqi forces seized the Kirkuk governor’s office, key military sites and an oil field on Monday as they swept across the province following soaring tensions over a Kurdish secession referendum.
The rapid advance, involving troops, tanks and armored vehicles, aims to recapture oil and military targets that Kurdish forces took over during the fightback against the Daesh terror group, AFP reported.
Iraqi forces thrust into Kirkuk city, capital of the oil-rich province, and took control of the governor’s office, which had been left deserted, the federal police chief said.
Crowds on the streets of Kirkuk’s southern outskirts welcomed Iraqi forces as they entered the city, where they were seen raising Iraqi flags in the place of Kurdish ones.
Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces exchanged artillery fire early Monday south of the provincial capital, after the launch of the operation overnight which triggered a spike in oil prices on world markets.
Pumping stopped at Kirkuk’s two main oil fields as Kurdish technicians halted operations and left the wells, an Oil Ministry official said.
A Kurdish health official said at least 10 peshmerga fighters were killed and 27 wounded during fighting overnight.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said its forces had retaken the K1 military base northwest of Kirkuk, the military airport east of the city and the Baba Gargar oil field, one of six in the disputed region.
The operation follows an armed standoff between Kurdish forces and the Iraqi army prompted by the September 25 nonbinding referendum that produced a ‘yes’ for Kurdish independence.
Baghdad has declared the vote – held despite international opposition – illegal.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-abadi said the operation was necessary to “protect the unity of the country, which was in danger of partition” because of the referendum.
“We call upon all citizens to cooperate with our heroic armed forces, which are committed to our strict directives to protect civilians in the first place, and to impose security and order, and to protect state installations and institutions,” he said.
Peshmerga forces loyal to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a political party linked to Iraqi President Fuad Masum, who is himself a Kurd, were reported to be withdrawing from areas under their control.
On Sunday, Iraq’s National Security Council said it viewed as a “declaration of war” the presence of “fighters not belonging to the regular security forces in Kirkuk”, including fighters from Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Ankara, which fears the independence vote by the Iraqi Kurds could spark similar moves by its own Kurdish minority, said it was ready to help the Iraqi government oust Kurdish fighters from Kirkuk.
The Kurds have been in control of six fields in the Kirkuk region providing some 340,000 of the 550,000 barrels per day exported by the regional administration.
The fields would provide crucial revenue to Baghdad, which has been left cash-strapped from the global fall in oil prices and three years of battle against Daesh.