Alwaght- Iraqi forces have launched an overnight operation on Monday to liberate oil-rich Kirkuk from Kurdish militias, known as Peshmerga, with Prime Minister describing it as government's constitutional duty to protect country's unity.
Iraq's federal army along with Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have reportedly seized control of Taza Khormatu town, Kirkuk's international airport Afana oil field, the strategic K1 military.
Tuz Khurmatu, considered as "disputed areas", is located some 70 kilometers from Kirkuk. The mostly Shiite-populated city has a population of 200,000 people.
Disputed regions label covers some parts of Kirkuk, Diyala, Nineveh and Saladin provinces on which the Iraqi government and Kurds struggle for control and demographic structure determination.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a statement on Monday, saying that he is fulfilling his constitutional duty that entails serving the people and “the protection of the unity of the country that has faced the threat of division due to the insistence of [the Kurdish leadership] on holding the referendum, in a unilateral manner, while the Iraqi government faced the threat of ISIS".
Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) held an illegitimate independence referendum on Sept. 25. The breakaway vote has faced strong opposition from most regional and international actors -- including the Iran, Turkey, and the US, who warned that the poll would distract from Iraq’s fight against terrorism and further destabilize the region.
Iraqi Prime Minister's statement also rebuked Kurdistan referendum as a bid to "establish a race based state.” Premier said KRG nonetheless went ahead with the vote by “violating the constitution,” despite calls by the international community that demanded Erbil to reconsider it.
He said he reassures the people of Kurdistan “in particular Kirkuk” that they will protect their lives, their interests, and that “we did not do anything beyond our constitutional duties to prevail the federal authority, the protection of the national wealth in that city that we want it to stay as a peaceful coexisting city.”
It said that the Iraqi forces will protect the rule of law, while asking the Kurdish Peshmerga, as part of the Iraqi defense system to “carry on its duties under the federal leadership.”
The statement concluded by calling on the people to go back to their “normal lives” and for the state employees, including the police and security forces to commit to their duties in the city.
