The Kurds are trying desperately to hold on to the territory their forces have captured during the war with ISIS, but are now being pushed from two fronts.
The Iraqi army is taking control of areas in the region of Kirkuk, which includes the rich oilfields, whilst the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) wants their fighters to stay.
So far there have only been minor clashes between the two sides.
A KRG Security Council statement said: ““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 air base and oil fields, all located west of the city.”
Meanwhile on the Iraqi - Iranian border controlled by the Kurds there were multiple rockets launched towards the Iranian backed militia to stop them from advancing.
<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Video footage shows Kurdish Peshmerga forces fire rockets toward <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iran?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Iran</a> backed Shiite militias on the South <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kerkuk?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kerkuk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kurdistan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kurdistan</a> - <a href="https://t.co/Ts7q4yKpUY">pic.twitter.com/Ts7q4yKpUY</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Twitterkurds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Twitterkurds</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iraq?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Iraq</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kirkuk?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kirkuk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TuzKhurmatu?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TuzKhurmatu</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tuz_Khurmatu?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tuz_Khurmatu</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Abadi?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Abadi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/baghdad?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#baghdad</a></p>— curdistani (@curdistani) <a href="https://twitter.com/curdistani/status/919745880122470400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The United States, which have backed the Kurds as long as they were fighting ISIS at the side of the Iraqi army, has now taken the side of the Iraqi government and refuses to recognize the validity of the Kurdish referendum calling for independence.
The US Department of Defense called on both the Iraqi and Kurdish forces “to avoid additional escalatory actions”, but realizes that the violence between the parties is likely to grow.
A spokeswoman for the Pentagon, Ms. Laura Seal continues to warn against "destabilizing actions that distract from the fight against ISIS and further undermine Iraq's stability. We oppose violence from any party.”
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mr. Haider al-Abadi will not want to listen with so much richness in the balance for him. The northern oil-rich region is his goal. He wants his army “to impose security in Kirkuk in cooperation with the population of the city and the Peshmerga.”
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The Kurds are the only normal people in that area. They are all different religions, just Kurds. They treat their women decently. I guess they are good if they want their own country. They helped America when we needed help.
True, they helped the Usa, but helping them means taking away land from Iraq
Kurdistan it will become.