Baghdad strain on Kurds to curb independence attempts

BAGHDAD – 16 October 2017: Baghdad heaped pressure on Iraq’s Kurds on Wednesday, demanding they cancel their overwhelming vote for independence while parliament urged the Iraqi central government to send troops to take control of vital oil fields held by Kurdish forces, Reuters reported.

Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani has arrived in Iraq's Kurdistan region for talks about the escalating crisis between the Kurdish authorities and the Iraqi government following the Kurdish independence referendum, a Kurdish official said.

Kurdish leaders who met to discuss the crisis in the Kurdish town of Dokan renewed their offer to "resolve peacefully" the crisis with Baghdad, Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani's aide, Hemin Hawrami, said on Twitter.

Iraq's Kurdish leadership rejected the Iraqi government demand that it cancels the outcome of an independence referendum as a precondition for talks to resolve the dispute.

The Iraqi government accused Kurdish authorities of bringing fighters from Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and said it considered the move a "declaration of war."

"At the request of the Iraqi government, the Islamic Republic of Iran closed the border crossings with the Kurdistan region of Iraq,'' the Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement in Baghdad.

Iran shut its border crossings with Iraq's Kurdistan in support of measures taken by the Iraqi government to isolate the Kurdish region, the Iraqi foreign ministry said.

Iraqi forces began moving at midnight towards oil fields and an important air base held by Kurdish forces near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Iraqi and Kurdish officials said.
The object of the advance was taking control of the K1 airbase, west of Kirkuk, Lieutenant Colonel Salah el-Kinani of the Iraqi army's 9th armoured division told Reuters.

"Iraqi forces and Popular Mobilisation are now advancing from Taza, south of Kirkuk, in a major operation; their intention is to enter the city and take over (the) K1 base and oil fields,'' said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Security Council.

A convoy of elite Iraqi military forces took control of the governorate building in central Kirkuk, meeting no opposition from Kurdish forces deployed in the city, security sources and residents said.

Iraqi forces removed the Kurdish flag that was hoisted on the governorate building in April next to an Iraqi flag, said residents, adding that only the Iraqi flag was flying.
Oil and natural gas production from the Kirkuk region is proceeding normally on Monday despite an Iraqi military operation to seize the region form Kurdish forces, an Iraqi Oil Ministry official told Reuters.

U.S. Senator John McCain, the influential chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned Iraq's government of "severe consequences" over any further misuse U.S.-provided weaponry against Kurdish forces.

"The United States provided equipment and training to the government of Iraq to fight (Islamic State) and secure itself from external threats — not to attack elements of one of its own regional governments, which is a longstanding and valuable partner of the United States," McCain said.

The United States sought to avoid openly taking sides in an Iraqi-Kurdish dispute, as Iraq's capture of the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk raised the risk of an open conflict between U.S. allies in the fight against Islamic State.

U.S. President Donald Trump expressed disappointment the two sides were fighting.
"We don't like the fact that they're clashing. We're not taking sides," Trump told reporters at the White House.

The Head of Iraqi Counterterrorism Service in Kurdistan Lahore Sheikh Zinki attacked the region’s leader Masoud Barzani saying, “While we were busy protecting the Kurdish people, Masoud Barzani was busy robbing oil and strengthening his power.”

Zinki added in statements to El Hurra channel, “We will not send our children to their death to preserve Barzani’s seat of power.”

The Pentagon urged Iraqi and Kurdish forces to "avoid escalatory actions" and to turn to dialogue to defuse tensions and resolve their differences.