Alwaght- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday evening announced that government forces had secured all parts of Iraq “disputed areas” between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).
At a press conference held in the capital, al-Abadi also accused certain KRG-linked media outlets -- which he did not identify by name -- of “openly inciting violence against federal forces”.
"Such incitement by Kurdish channels is unacceptable,” the prime minister asserted.
Recent weeks have seen Iraqi government forces move into several parts of the country “disputed” between Baghdad and the Erbil-based KRG, including the oil-rich Kirkuk province.
The deployments led to limited clashes between Iraqi troops and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, with a handful of casualties reported on both sides.
The developments followed weeks of simmering tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government over the referendum, held on September 25 in open defiance of the central government in Baghdad.
Following the vote, Baghdad imposed a ban on direct international flights to the Kurdish region and called for a halt to its independent crude oil sales.
Two weeks ago, Iraq’s judiciary also issued arrest warrants for three senior Kurdish officials, who were allegedly behind the contentious plebiscite, which also faced strong opposition from regional countries, including Iran and Turkey. Iraq's Supreme Court has already ruled the referendum unconstitutional.
Despite all pressures, Kurdish leaders refused to renounce the breakaway vote making Iraqi prime minister to order troops deployment to disputed areas that were occupied by Kurdish militias after ISIS incursion into Iraq in 2014. Following the order, Iraqi army backed by Popular Mobilization Forces launched a multi-fronted operation on the Kurdish-held areas in Kirkuk, Saladin, Nineveh, and Diyala provinces and recaptured all disputed areas from Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
