Iraqi forces retake oil-rich Kirkuk from Kurdish control after independence referendum
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Long-simmering tensions between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan broke out into open warfare Monday as Iraqi troops and Shiite paramilitaries recaptured the oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk from Kurdish control.
Iraqi military and militia forces began the assault on the city, which lies 55 miles south of the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Irbil, early Monday with a barrage of mortars and long-range artillery fire along the city’s southern borders.
Iraqi forces and paramilitaries known as Popular Mobilization Forces began amassing along Kirkuk’s city limits Friday after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for the operation to retake Kirkuk. Baghdad issued the order to recapture the city weeks after a referendum vote that could set the stage for an independent Iraqi Kurdistan.
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