KURDS, IRAQI FORCES IN KIRKUK STANDOFF

Ultimatum extended as US tries to calm allies in war against Islamic State

THOUSANDS of Iraqi troops were locked in an armed standoff with Kurdish forces in the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk as Washington scrambled to avert fighting between its allies in the war against the Islamic State group.

The Kurds said on Saturday that Baghdad had set a deadline for their forces to surrender positions they took during the fightback against the jihadists over the past three years.

The deadline, originally set for 2am yesterday, was extended by 24 hours during a meeting overnight, a Kurdish official said.

On Saturday, armoured vehicles bearing the Iraqi national flag were posted on the bank of a river on the southern outskirts of the city of Kirkuk.

On the opposite bank, Kurdish peshmerga fighters were visible behind an earthen embankment topped with concrete blocks and the red, white, green and yellow colours of the Kurdish flag.

“Our forces are not moving and are now waiting for orders from the general staff,” said an Iraqi army officer.

Just before midnight, Iraqi forces used loudhailers to call on the peshmerga fighters to withdraw. The standoff came as Iraqi President Fuad Masum, who is himself a Kurd, held crisis talks in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah.

Kirkuk’s governor, a Kurd sacked by Baghdad but who refuses to quit, visited the peshmerga near the Bay Hassan and Havana oilfields with an uncomprising message for the Iraqi forces.

“The demands of the Hashed al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) to evacuate Kirkuk and hand over control of the territory, its inhabitants and natural resources are totally unacceptable,” Najm Eddine Karim said at the scene.

A peshmerga commander said Kurdish fighters had “taken all measures” and were “ready for a confrontation” if necessary. AFP