Iraqi and Kurdish forces exchange fire over shared border as tensions rise
Iraqi and Kurdish forces exchanged fire over their shared border on Friday in the most serious clashes since the crisis began, as federal forces ousted the Kurds from remaining disputed territory.
Iraq's anti-terrorism and federal police forces shelled Kurdish Peshmerga military positions in Altun Kupri, just outside the country's autonomous Kurdish region.
The Peshmerga responded with mortar fire. There were no reported injuries.
The Kurdistan Regional Security Council claimed that weapons supplied by the US to the Iraqi army was being used in the attack against them.
Iraq's federal authority claims Altun Kupri for itself as it is part of the areas acquired by the Kurds in 2014, when Iraqi soldiers gave up their posts in the face of an Islamic State of Iraq the Levant (Isil) advance.
The district had been the last area in Kirkuk province still held by Peshmerga fighters. By midday, Iraq's defense ministry said they had taken the town and completed their takeover.
Earlier this week Iraqi forces retook the disputed city of Kirkuk and the surrounding areas largely unchallenged by the Peshmerga, branches of which had struck a deal with Baghdad to withdraw quietly.
The Kurdish side built berms and called in reinforcements to Altun Kupri on Friday but were vastly outnumbered and outgunned by the US-trained and armed Iraqi federal forces, which were supported by Iranian-sponsored militias.
"There's nothing we can do about it, honestly. I'm urging the coalition forces to come and help us." Peshmerga fighter Ibrahim Mirza told AFP. "No doubt we have martyrs."
Kurdish protesters gathered outside the US consulate in Kurdistan’s capital Erbil to call on their ally to protect the minority against what they called Iraqi aggression.
Washington, which supported both Iraqi and Kurdish fighters in the battle against Isil, said on Friday it was aware of the reports and urged both sides to reduce tensions.
While they are sympathetic to the Kurds they have acknowledged Iraq had a right to extend its control over any federal, contested territories.
The two sides had until this month been fighting together to defeat the jihadists, but relations have deteriorated after Kurdistan held a referendum last month to secede from Iraq.
Iraq was incensed by Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani’s decision to include contested areas such as Kirkuk in the vote, warning such a move would incite a reaction from Baghdad.
The unrest has caused tens of thousands of residents of Kirkuk and nearby Tuz to flee to the two main cities of the Kurdish autonomous region, Erbil and Sulaimaniyeh,
The United Nations expressed concern on Thursday at reports of forced displacement and destruction of Kurdish homes and businesses in Tuz.
