As Iraqi forces advance in Kirkuk from the south and west, families are fleeing after gunfire and bombs blasted through the city.

 

Late Sunday night, Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) moved into Kirkuk and continue to fight Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers in the contested oil city, in addition to occupying Kirkuk airport. By early morning, fighting continued and businesses remained shuttered as people fled ongoing fighting.

 

PMUs, locally known as Hashd Shaaby are primarily a Shia fighting force formalized under Baghdad as they fought along other Iraqi and coalition forces during the battle with Islamic State militants. Allied against IS, Kurdish Peshmerga and PMU fighters have been facing off for days around Kirkuk, with both sides massing soldiers and heavy weaponry, and building berms and other defense lines.

The road into Kirkuk from the direction of Irbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is now cut, and PMU forces are believed to be in the process of capturing Kirkuk oil fields, which could cut the road off from Irbil further north.

 

Kirkuk has long been claimed as part of the Kurdistan Region and part of Arab Iraq. In late September, the Kurdistan Region voted overwhelmingly in support of independence in a referendum, despite objections from the Iraqi central government in Baghdad and the international community.

 

Baghdad responded by grounding international flights to and from the region and imposing other sanctions. Baghdad says taking Kirkuk, which was controlled militarily by Irbil and administered by both capitals, is asserting its federal authority. Irbil calls it an attack on Kurdistan.
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