Iraqi forces took control of all the oil fields in the disputed northern province of Kirkuk on Oct. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered his troops on Oct. They achieved a swift victory in Kirkuk , reaching the center of the city in less than a day. Al-Luaibi also warned the KRG authorities against blocking the Kirkuk oil export pipeline, saying they would face legal action if they did so.
Iraqi forces took down the red, white, green and yellow KRG flags that had flown over the pumping stations of the Bai Hassan and Havana oil fields and raised the national flag. Police Colonel Ahmed Modhi hailed the restoration of federal control over the two fields, which the Kurds had taken over during the chaos that followed the lightning advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ISIL through northern and western Iraq in They have always riled Baghdad which views them as a breach of the constitution that makes them a federal responsibility.
The KRG is already going through its worst economic crisis after Baghdad severed its air links with the outside world and neighboring Iran closed its border to trade in oil products.
We will continue to follow the developments in Kirkuk. Our contributions for the meticulous protection of the demographic structure of the city will also continue. Kirkuk lies outside the autonomous region but is one of a string of territories that the Kurds have long wanted to incorporate, against the wishes of Baghdad.
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Kurdish forces took over many of these territories in when units of the Iraqi army disintegrated in the face of the advance of ISIL. But since entering the city of Kirkuk on Oct. They also entered the town of Khanaqin, on the Iranian border, and three other towns in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad. Tens of thousands of civilians fled into the nearby mountains in appalling conditions, helping to trigger U.
