Iraq army seizes oil fields as Kurds flee Kirkuk
IRAQ’S MILITARY has seized two major oil fields outside the disputed city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces.
The military said yesterday that federal forces are now in control of the North Oil Company and Baba Gurgur fields.
Iraqi forces advanced on Kirkuk overnight on Monday, clashing with Kurdish forces on the outskirts.
The city is outside the Kurdish autonomous region but is claimed by the Kurds and the central government.
The Kurds and the central government have long been divided over the sharing of revenues from the oil fields outside Kirkuk.
Kurdish forces have abandoned their positions outside Kirkuk’s airport and civilians were fleeing in large numbers.
The General Command of the Peshmerga Forces issued a statement saying: “The attack is a clear declaration of war against the people of the Kurdistan Region.”
Federal forces had earlier seized an industrial area and a power plant to the south of the city.
The fighting comes amid soaring tensions after the Kurds voted for independence last month in a non-binding referendum rejected as unconstitutional by Baghdad.
Both the Kurdish forces and the federal forces have been armed and trained by the United States, and both are allies against the Islamic State group.
Earlier, Iraqi Kurdish officials said that federal forces and statebacked militias had launched a “major, multi-pronged” attack aimed at retaking the disputed northern city.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council said in a statement that Kurdish forces known as peshmerga had destroyed at least five US-supplied Humvees being used by the state-sanctioned militias following the “unprovoked attack” south of the city.
Tensions have soared since the Kurds held a non-binding referendum last month in which they voted for independence from Iraq.
The central government, along with neighbouring Turkey and Iran, rejected the vote.
The US also opposed the referendum, and has urged both sides to remain focused on defeating IS extremists rather than turning on each other.
The central government and the autonomous Kurdish region in the north have long been divided over oil revenues and the fate of disputed territories like Kirkuk that are controlled by Kurdish forces but are outside their selfruled region.
The Kurds assumed control of Kirkuk, in the heart of a major oil-producing region, in the summer of 2014, when IS militants swept across northern Iraq and the country’s armed forces crumbled.
Baghdad has demanded the Kurds withdraw.
The Kurdish security council said the assault launched late on Sunday was aimed at entering the city and retaking the K-1 military base and nearby oil fields.
Some residents of the city and an Iraqi militia commander reported shelling.