Iraq says Kurdish forces have ‘declared war’

BAGHDAD has accused Kurdish forces of making a “declaration of war” after claiming PKK fighters were among Kurdish forces in a stand-off with its army in the disputed oil province of Kirkuk.

The National Security Council, headed by Haider al-abadi, the Iraqi prime minister, said it viewed as a “dangerous escalation” and 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).

“The central government and regular forces will carry out their duty of defending the Iraqi people in all its components including the Kurds, and of defending Iraq’s sovereignty and unity,” it added.

Yesterday, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters rejected a warning from an Iraqi paramilitary force to withdraw from a strategic junction south of Kirkuk, which controls the access to some of the region’s main oilfields.

Mr Al-abadi’s comments yesterday came after Iraqi Kurdish leaders refused to repudiate the results of a disputed referendum on independence.

He had repeatedly denied that any military operation is planned, but inflammatory rhetoric on local and social media has added pressure to the situation.

Kurdish officials denied PKK forces were among its Peshmerga fighters in Kirkuk.