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Kurdish Peshmerga blow up bridge to halt Iraqi forces

October 23, 2017 at 12:53 pm

Iraqi security forces deploy military equipment after taking control of Altun Kopru village of Kirkuk, Iraq on 20 October 2017 [Ali Mukarrem Garip/Anadolu Agency]

Kurdish Peshmerga forces have blown up a small bridge linking Zammar, northwest of Mosul, with the Zakho district of Dohuk province in the north to stop federal forces advance, an Iraqi military source said yesterday.

Captain Sajid Hamid of the 15th Iraqi Army Division said the small bridge extends along the Ceyhan pipeline.

Local police captain, Hussain Salem Babkir, said Federal Police and Rapid Response units have been deployed in the area.

“We have not yet received orders to move in the area,” he said, noting that the reinforcements could be intended for other areas.

Read more: Iraqi court issues arrest warrant against former Kurdish army chief

Earlier in the day an Iraqi military source said the Peshmerga forces cut off the main road linking the district of Sinjar with the province of Dohuk in the north.

A Peshmerga officer said closing the road came after information that federal forces intend to take control of the Faysh Khabur border crossing.

Iraqi federal forces have been advancing since last Monday to control disputed areas which have been under the control of Peshmerga forces since 2014 in the aftermath of the Kurdistan referendum on separation from Iraq.

The disputed areas include the province of Kirkuk, parts of the provinces of Nineveh, Salah Al-Din and Diyala.