Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

Iraq claims to have taken control of Kirkuk

Iraq’s army says it has taken full control of Kirkuk following a major advance, reports Al Jazeera.

The federal government in Baghdad told AL Jazeera that Iraqi forces had captured the governing building in the centre of Kirkuk and moved in to take control of of oil fields, a refinery and military base from Kurdish control.

Iraq’s military offensive was met with no opposition from Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who co-ordinated a withdrawal from their positions with Iraqi forces.

Summarising its movements in Kirkuk on Monday, Iraq’s army said it had seized the city’s airport, an oil field, a pershmerga military base and the Taza Khormatu district southeast of Kirkuk.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control of the oil producing region of Kirkuk from Islamic state militants in 2014.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, who spoke to locals in the area said,

“It seems to be a complete withdrawal form the Peshmerga inside and around the city. A lot of people are very angry with this withdrawal.

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.