Iraq: Shia forces will not cross in to Kurdish region

Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces will not cross into the Kurdish region of the country, the group’s spokesperson said today.

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, Karim Nouri said: “There are no orders from the General Command of the armed forces to exceed into the borders of the Kurdistan region.”

“All factions are moving according to the mandate of the General Command of the armed forces, and all the places the PMF entered were commissioned by the military leadership.”

Members of the PMF, loyal to the government in Baghdad, recently took control of the disputed city of Kirkuk which had been governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government since 2014 after Peshmerga forces drove Daesh fighters out of the area.

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Earlier in the day, the Kurdistan region said that Iraqi forces continue to “surround the region”, threatening that Peshmerga forces “will defend the region’s territory”.

There have been increased tensions between Baghdad and Erbil since the KRG held an independence referendum on 25 September whose result was overwhelming support for separation from Baghdad. The Iraqi government has deemed the vote unconstitutional.

In mid-October, Iraqi forces launched a security crackdown on the vast majority of disputed areas with the northern province including the province of Kirkuk, parts of the provinces of Nineveh, Saladin and Diyala. Kurdish forces in the areas retreated without much resistance.