Peshmerga, PMF exchange heavy fire in Kirkuk: network
Peshmerga troops.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga troops and the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces exchanged fire Friday morning, hours after deadly clashes were reported in Nineveh.
Kurdish-owned Rudaw network said the two sides exchanged heavy artillery fire on a Kirkuk-Erbil road at Alton Kobri area.
PMF media have yet to confirm the clash.
Earlier reports have told of limited, but deadly, clashes between the two forces last week as Iraqi government forces invaded Kirkuk.
A medical official in Sulaymaniyah was quoted last week saying that Peshmerga deaths since the Iraqi incursion in Kirkuk stood at 84, with more than 160 wounded.
Iraqi troops, backed by Popular Mobilization Forces, took over Kirkuk province from Kurdish Peshmerga fighters on Tuesday, fulfilling instructions made earlier by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to retake areas where sovereignty is disputed with Kurdistan Region’s Government. Abadi has ordered to evacuate all armed groups except for local police forces.
PMF spokesman, Ahmed al-Assadi, said Thursday mobilization forces withdraw from all positions to outside Kirkuk, leaving security duties to local police.
The Iraqi military command said it became in control over all of the province’s oil fields, military bases and government facilities. The military takeover came after Kurdistan voted in September to secede from Iraq. Iraqi officials have frequently reiterated they would proceed until federal government control is fully re-established in disputed territories.