Iraqi troops head toward border crossing with Turkey
Iraqi army forces in Tal Afar.
“Troops headed toward Ibrahim al-Khalil border crossing between Iraq and Turkey in Duhuq province to control it,” a source from the Iraqi Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
The border crossing links between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey. The crossing has been under focus after Iraqi authorities imposed strict measures on it after Kurdistan held its independence referendum on September 25.
On Tuesday, a source from the Iraqi army’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service, told Alghad Press on Monday that army troops are getting ready to advance toward Faysh Khabur exit, between Iraq and Syria, within the coming few hours. He added that the exit border was located within Mosul before 2003.
Iraqi government forces approached the southern borders of Erbil, capital of semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, shortly after engaging in clashes with the region’s forces in Qushtapa and Altun Kupri in northern Kirkuk.
Iraqi troops, backed by PMFs, took over Kirkuk province from Kurdish Peshmerga fighters last week, fulfilling instructions made earlier by Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to retake areas where sovereignty is disputed with Kurdistan Region’s Government.
Baghdad had declared intentions to retake areas disputed on with Erbil following the Kurdistan Region’s vote for independence from Iraq in September, urging Peshmerga to cooperate with federal troops.