However, he later told Reuters that the truce had not been officially agreed, while an Iraqi military spokesman declined to comment. According to the KRG, which is based in the Kurdish autonomous region’s capital of Erbil, the ceasefire entered effect at 1 am on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday). “The ceasefire is holding,” Vahal Ali, the director of KRG President Masoud Barzani’s media office, told Reuters. Iraqi government forces and the Tehran-backed Popular Mobilisation launched a surprise offensive on Oct. 16 in retaliation to the Sept. 25 independence referendum organized by the KRG. The KRG proposed on Wednesday an immediate ceasefire, a suspension of the referendum result and “starting an open dialogue with the federal government based on the Iraqi Constitution”.

Source: bd News24 October 27, 2017 14:37 UTC