Clashes reported between Iraqi and Kurdish forces near Kirkuk

Iraqi forces and Peshmerga fighters have exchanged artillery fire south of Kikuk as an operation green-lighted by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to “impose security” on the oil-rich Kurdish-controlled city gets underway.

The Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Twitter that Iraqi troops and Popular Mobilization Forces are using US equipment gifted to Iraq to fight ISIL.

Meanwhile, Erbil-based Rudaw media group tweeted that “four military vehicles belonging to Iraqi forces set ablaze by Peshmerga troops as they approached Kirkuk.”

The reports could not be immediately verified.

Iraqi troops and Shiite paramilitary forces began an operation at midnight on Sunday to take control of an important military base and oil fields controlled by Kurdish fighters in Kirkuk.

The province of Kirkuk is not part of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, but Kurdish forces have controlled the city since Iraqi federal forces fled the city in summer 2014 ahead of an ISIL operation in northern Iraq.

Kurdish media reported that the governor of Kirkuk has urged people to take up arms and protect the city, with “thousands of volunteers” pouring into the streets, vowing “to fight intruders.”

Tensions have been soaring between Baghdad and Kurdish authorities after an independence referendum, which saw voters backing secession. Kurdish leaders have also refused the demand of Iraqi government to reject the results of the vote.

(CGTN)