Ethnically divided but historically Kurdish-majority Kirkuk is one of several regions that peshmerga fighters took over from the Iraqi army in 2014 when the jihadists swept through much of northern and western Iraq. He said federal troops had already taken one base west of Kirkuk on Friday morning after peshmerga fighters withdrew during the night without a fight. “If the Iraqi army advances, we will fight.”Sheikh Jaafar,Peshmerga Cmnd. A top aide to Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani vowed that peshmerga forces would defend their positions “at any cost”. On Thursday, Kurdish forces briefly blocked two roads into the autonomous region from second city Mosul for fear of an attack.

Source: Dhaka Tribune October 13, 2017 14:37 UTC