Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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This image made from a video shows Iraqi soldiers on military vehicles in the Qatash area towards Kirkuk gas plant, south of Kirkuk, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 16, 2017. (AP)

Iraq Govt. Forces Launch Offensive on Kurdish-Held Kirkuk

by Asharq Al-Awsat English | Oct 16, 2017 | Middle East

Iraqi government forces launched on Monday an offensive to retake territory seized by Kurds in Kirkuk in what is seen as response to last month’s Kurdish independence referendum, which was rejected by Baghdad. The forces have so far seized a swathe of countryside...

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Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters stand next to an ISIS sign at the entrance to the northern Iraqi town of Hawija, south of Kirkuk on March 9, 2015. /AFP

Baghdad: Presence of PKK in Kirkuk is Declaration of War

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Oct 16, 2017 | Middle East

Baghdad, Irbil- Baghdad accused Irbil on Sunday of bringing members from the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, to Kirkuk, while it sent reinforcement from the army and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to the southern part of the disputed city, in...

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Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and his Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi are seen during a welcoming ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq, January 7, 2017. Hakan Goktepe/Prime Minister’s Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

US Working to Defuse Tensions in Kirkuk

by Said Abdul Razzak | Oct 15, 2017 | Middle East

Ankara, Washington, Irbil – With the end of the 48-hour deadline given by Baghdad for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces to withdraw from the oil fields in Kirkuk, Washington decided to intervene with an attempt to defuse a possible confrontation between the two...

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An Iraqi army tank is pictured during a military operation toward the town of Hit, in west of Ramadi, March 8, 2016. Picture taken March 8, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

Kurds: Baghdad Gives Ultimatum on Kirkuk Pullback

by Asharq Al-Awsat English | Oct 14, 2017 | Middle East

Baghdad has set a pre-dawn Sunday deadline for Kurdish forces to abandon positions in the disputed oil province of Kirkuk they took during the fightback against ISIS more than three years ago, a senior Kurdish official said. “The deadline set for the peshmerga...

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A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter pauses during an operation to take the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar/Nov. 2015. AP

Abadi’s Clarifications Fail to Eliminate Kurdish Concerns

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Oct 13, 2017 | Middle East

Baghdad, Irbil — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stressed on Thursday that his government would not wage a war against the Kurds, but his comments failed to eliminate worries among the Kurdistan Region residents of a possible movement of the federal forces...