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Thousands of Iraqi soldiers and allied militia are locked in an armed standoff with Kurdish forces in the disputed oil province of Kirkuk amid a sharp row between Baghdad and the autonomous region of Kurdistan.
A senior Kurdish official on Saturday said Iraq's central government had given Peshmerga fighters a 2am on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday) deadline to surrender key military positions seized during the fightback against ISIL over the past three years.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the existence of such a deadline.
The reports of the deadline came as heavily armed Iraqi troops and members of the Popular Mobilisation Force (PMF) - paramilitary units largely made up of Iran-trained Shia militias - massed around Kirkuk, already retaking a string of positions to the south of the city after Kurdish forces withdrew.
The Kurds also deployed thousands of Peshmerga fighters to the area around the city, vowing to defend it "at any cost."
"They have moved towards our position," said Bahjat Ahmed, a Peshmerga commander. "We will not withdraw, we will defend this position to the last Peshmerga."
Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford, reporting from the westernmost Peshmerga position in Kirkuk, said dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles of Shia militias had been stationed in the area, not far from the Kurdish forces.
"The tension here is frankly palpable," Stratford said. "The Peshmerga here say this is a defensive position but they are not going to withdraw any further back."
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/...k-standoff-tensions-rise-171014170506815.html
A senior Kurdish official on Saturday said Iraq's central government had given Peshmerga fighters a 2am on Sunday (23:00 GMT on Saturday) deadline to surrender key military positions seized during the fightback against ISIL over the past three years.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the existence of such a deadline.
The reports of the deadline came as heavily armed Iraqi troops and members of the Popular Mobilisation Force (PMF) - paramilitary units largely made up of Iran-trained Shia militias - massed around Kirkuk, already retaking a string of positions to the south of the city after Kurdish forces withdrew.
The Kurds also deployed thousands of Peshmerga fighters to the area around the city, vowing to defend it "at any cost."
"They have moved towards our position," said Bahjat Ahmed, a Peshmerga commander. "We will not withdraw, we will defend this position to the last Peshmerga."
Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford, reporting from the westernmost Peshmerga position in Kirkuk, said dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles of Shia militias had been stationed in the area, not far from the Kurdish forces.
"The tension here is frankly palpable," Stratford said. "The Peshmerga here say this is a defensive position but they are not going to withdraw any further back."
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/...k-standoff-tensions-rise-171014170506815.html
