But a Iraqi military spokesman suggested an offensive -- launched to wrest back territory after Kurds voted overwhelmingly for independence in a disputed referendum in September -- would continue regardless. Baghdad declared the referendum illegal and responded by seizing back the city of Kirkuk, the oil-producing areas around it and other territory that the Kurds had captured from militant group Islamic State. The fighting so far has taken place outside the Kurdish autonomous region, but Fish-Khabur is inside it. The Iraqi government’s advance over the past week has been achieved with comparatively little violence, with Kurds mostly withdrawing without a fight. Iraqi forces are preparing in parallel an offensive to recapture the last patch of Iraqi territory still in the hands of Islamic State, on the border with Syria, the military said on Wednesday.

Source: bd News24 October 25, 2017 08:03 UTC