Iraqi forces retake key base, airport, oil field from Kurds
KIRKUK (AFP) — Iraqi forces seized a key military base, an airport and an oil field from Kurdish fighters Monday in disputed Kirkuk province in a major operation sparked by a controversial independence referendum.
The offensive, which follows weeks of soaring tensions between two U.S. allies in the battle against the Islamic State group, aims to retake oil and military sites that Kurdish forces took over during the fightback against the jihadists.
Thousands of residents were seen fleeing Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk city, according to an AFP journalist.
Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces exchanged artillery fire early Monday south of the capital of the oil-rich province, after the launch of the operation overnight which triggered a spike in oil prices on world markets.
But after the initial clashes Iraqi forces made rapid progress, suggesting Kurdish fighters were withdrawing with little or no resistance.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said its forces had retaken the K1 mil- itary 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 non-binding referendum that produced a resounding “yes” for independence for the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
Baghdad has declared the vote — held despite international opposition — illegal.
Crisis talks on Sunday had made little headway in resolving the standoff, which has raised fears of fresh chaos just as IS jihadists are on the verge of losing their last strongholds in the country.
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.
An AFP photographer saw columns of Iraqi troops heading towards Kirkuk from the south.
Multiple peshmerga fighters were injured in the initial clashes and hospitalized in Kirkuk, a local security source said.
But 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 later reported to be withdrawing from areas under their control.
Pro-PUK forces were deployed south of the city, including at oil fields, while fighters loyal to the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), linked to Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani who initiated the referendum, were deployed to the north.