Iraq says captures positions south of Kirkuk including airbase
Source: Reuters
Iraqi forces captured several positions south of Kirkuk from Kurdish fighters on Monday in their bid to regain control of the oil-rich city, which is part of a region that declared itself independent at a referendum last month.
The territory captured included a key airbase called K1, the North Gas Company station, a nearby processing plant, a power plant and the industrial district, an Iraqi military statement said.
The Iraqi armed forces are continuing to advance, it said.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) did not confirm the capture of these positions but major Kurdish TV channel Rudaw said Kurdish Peshmerga forces retreated form positions south of Kirkuk.
Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-iraq-kurds-kirkuk-stat/iraq-says-captures-positions-south-of-kirkuk-including-airbase-idUKKBN1CL0K4
Other reports: Iraqi forces clash with Kurds in operation to 'impose security' on Kirkuk
Kirkuk: Clashes reported after Iraqi forces advance on Kurdish-held sites
Articles on the lead up to this: https://www.democraticunderground.com/113320595
IronLionZion
(45,528 posts)They should be fighting ISIS, not the Kurds.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,361 posts)...
On Tuesday, Iraqi forces captured the Bai Hassan and Avana oil fields run by state-owned North Oil Company, north of Kirkuk.
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Meanwhile, a Yazidi militia retook the town of Sinjar, in the northern Nineveh province, without violence.
Peshmerga forces had established control over Sinjar while battling IS. The town was the site of one of the group's worst atrocities, when thousands of Yazidis were killed and enslaved after the jihadists seized control in 2014.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41649729