Alwaght- Iraqi Forces took control on Tuesday of Khanaqin district as Kurdish militias continue withdrawing from disputed area.
Reuters cited security sources as saying Kurdish Peshmerga fighters pulled out from Khanaqin, on the border with Iran.
The region, which comprises several towns as well as hundreds of villages, is home to a Shiite Kurds and Turkmens and amounts of Arabs.
The development comes as Iraqi army along with Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) launched a multi-fronted operation to recapture disputed area from Peshmerga militias.
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. Taking advantage of vacuum of power created by ISIS incursion into the Arab country, Kurdish militias seized control of many parts of these disputed areas.
The forces have so far managed to establish control over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu as well as Sinjar.
The large-scale operation came in response to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) referendum on independence held 25 September.
Iraqi government has called on KRG to renounce the illegal breakaway vote, but the Kurdish leaders have so far defied the request.
