{"id":1039,"date":"2017-10-16T13:03:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T13:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madaresharghi.com\/iraqi-forces-retake-military-base-strategic-sites-in-kirkuk-video\/"},"modified":"2017-10-16T13:03:57","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T13:03:57","slug":"iraqi-forces-retake-military-base-strategic-sites-in-kirkuk-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/iraqi-forces-retake-military-base-strategic-sites-in-kirkuk-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraqi forces retake military base, strategic sites in Kirkuk (video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

madaresharghi<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

Iraqi forces retook a key military base, an airport and an oil field from Kurdish forces on Monday in Kirkuk Province in a major operation sparked by a controversial secession referendum.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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\n\tThe government said its troops had seized Kirkuk airport and had taken control of Northern Iraq\u2019s oil company from the security forces of the autonomous Kurdish region, known as Peshmerga, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe military action was the most decisive step Baghdad has taken yet to rein in the secession aspirations of the Kurds, who have governed themselves as an autonomous part of Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and voted on Sept. 25 to secede.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe call on the Peshmerga forces to serve under the federal authority as part of the Iraqi armed forces,\u201d Prime Minister Haidar Abadi said in a statement which was read out on television. He ordered security forces \u201cto impose security in Kirkuk in cooperation with the population of the city and the Peshmerga\u201d, the statement said.<\/p>\n

\n\tState television said Iraqi forces had also entered Tuz Khurmato, a flashpoint town where there had been clashes between Kurds and Turkmen ethnicity.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Kurdish regional government did not initially confirm the Iraqi advances, but Rudaw, a major Kurdish TV station, reported that Peshmerga had left positions south of Kirkuk.<\/p>\n

\n\tUS forces have called on both sides to avoid escalation.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe US-led task international force in Iraq was \u201cclosely monitoring (the situation) near Kirkuk; urge all sides to avoid escalatory actions. Finish the fight vs. #ISIS, biggest threat to all,\u201d a spokesman said on Twitter.<\/p>\n

\n\tBayan Sami Rahman, the Kurdish regional government\u2019s representative in the United States, tweeted a plea for Washington to \u201cuse (its) leadership role to prevent war\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to a Kurdish official speaking on Sunday, Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, arrived in Iraq\u2019s Kurdistan region for talks about the escalating crisis between the Kurdish authorities and the Iraqi government.<\/p>\n

\n\tThousands of residents were seen fleeing Kirkuk, according to an AFP journalist.<\/p>\n

\n\tIraqi 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut after the initial clashes Iraqi forces made rapid progress, suggesting Kurdish forces were withdrawing with little or no resistance.<\/p>\n

\n\tIraq’s Joint Operations Command also said its forces had retaken the K1 military base northwest of Kirkuk, the military airport east of the city and the Baba Gargar oil field, one of six in the disputed region.<\/p>\n

\n\tBaghdad considers last month\u2019s Kurdish referendum illegal, especially as it was held not just in the autonomous region itself but in territory in northern Iraq, including Kirkuk, which the Kurdish Peshmerga occupied after driving out Daesh terrorists.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Kurdish militants moved into Kirkuk in 2014, capitalizing on a quick withdrawal of Iraqi troops from the city amid Daesh assaults.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Kurdish secession bid was strongly opposed by neighbors Iran and Turkey. Washington, allied with the Kurds for decades, had pleaded in vain for them to cancel the vote, arguing that it could lead to regional war and the breakup of Iraq.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe government said its forces, including the elite U.S.-trained Counter Terrorism Service, had moved almost unopposed into the industrial zone just south of Kirkuk and the oil, gas, facilities located south and west of the city.<\/p>\n

\n\tIraqi oil industry officials said there was no disruption to production from the facilities of the North Oil Company, which is based in Kirkuk and one of the two main oil companies that together provide nearly all of Iraq\u2019s government revenue.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe city of Kirkuk itself remained under Kurdish control, 12 hours after the start of the Iraqi operation, but two routes in and out were under control of the Iraqi forces.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have no orders to enter the city, just to secure the surroundings,\u201d a military commander involved in the operation told Reuters, adding that the Kurdish forces had pulled out in an orderly manner from the position taken by the Iraqi forces.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother military commander said: \u201cKurdish leaders we consider our brothers have agreed to hand over control of North Oil and North Gas company facilities that belong to the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Peshmerga and Popular Mobilization forces exchanged artillery fire south of Kirkuk, a Kurdish security official said. The official said the Peshmerga had pushed back two assaults by the Iraqi forces south of the city and destroyed several Humvees used by Popular Mobilization.<\/p>\n

\n\tKirkuk, a multi-ethnic city of more than a million people divided between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, is located just outside the autonomous Kurdish zone. Kurds consider it the heart of their homeland and say it was cleansed of Kurds and settled with Arabs under Saddam to secure control of the oil that was the source of Iraq\u2019s wealth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

RT Published on Oct 16, 2017 Iraqi military seen advancing towards Kirkuk to secure Kurdish Peshmerga-controlled bases and federal installations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

madaresharghi Iraqi forces retook a key military base, an airport and an oil field from Kurdish forces on Monday in Kirkuk Province in a major operation sparked by a controversial secession referendum. The government said its troops had seized Kirkuk airport and had taken control of Northern Iraq\u2019s oil company from the security forces of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[639],"yoast_head":"\nIraqi forces retake military base, strategic sites in Kirkuk (video) - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/madaresharghi.ir\/en\/iraqi-forces-retake-military-base-strategic-sites-in-kirkuk-video\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraqi forces retake military base, strategic sites in Kirkuk (video) - madaresharghi | An Analytical Look at Middle Eastern Developments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"madaresharghi Iraqi forces retook a key military base, an airport and an oil field from Kurdish forces on Monday in Kirkuk Province in a major operation sparked by a controversial secession referendum. 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