Alwaght- Hostilities have dangerously increased between two main rival factions in Iraqi Kurdistan region, bringing the autonomous region to the brink of civil war.
The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Masoud Barzani, has lost an oilfield when rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) stormed the site near Kirkuk.
Issues of oil and allegations of Barnazi’s corruption by the PUK is pushing for the PUK’s militia to take control.
Reuters also cited Kurdish security forces as saying that, Peshmerga Rojava forces moved towards the border with Syria, encroaching on territory controlled by a local affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who are mostly based in Turkey, and seek for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated areas of that country.
The Peshmerga Rojava is made up of Kurds from Syria and was formed and trained in Iraq with the backing of Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq.
Friday's clashes, which lasted several hours, pitted them against the YBS, which was set up there by the PKK after it came to the aid of the Yazidi population when the area was overrun by Islamic State in the summer of 2014.
"There are martyrs and wounded on both sides," one security source told Reuters.
It is well documented that Barzani has a significant relationship with Turkey’s President Erdogan with mutual interests on oil and containing the PKK.
In a statement on Friday, the YBS said the fighting began when the Peshmerga Rojava tried to seize its positions in Khanasor. The YBS accused Turkey of instigating the violence.
"It is a totally provocative initiative," the YBS said.
