BAGHDAD — Iraq’s central government and the country’s autonomous Kurdistan region have each sent troops to reinforce their internal border as tension builds between them in a feud over land and oil.
The second military build-up this year illustrates how far relations between Baghdad’s Arab-led central government and ethnic Kurds have deteriorated in a rift that is testing Iraq’s federal unity nearly a year after American troops left.
US officials were in contact on Tuesday with Iraqi and Kurdish leaders to ease tensions and the area, Tuz Khurmato, 170km north of Baghdad, appeared stable for now, according to Iraqi security and Kurdish sources.
Washington has intervened in past standoffs when Iraqi army and Kurdish troops known as Peshmerga came close to confrontation only to pull back at the last moment after testing each other’s nerves without any real appetite for a fight.
A spokesman for the commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces described the deployment as a “precautionary measure” and told Reuters the troops were under instruction to exercise the utmost self-restraint to avoid further escalation.
Earlier he warned Kurdish troops not to change positions or come close to government troops.
Tensions have been steadily building this week over the formation of a new command centre for Iraqi forces to operate in an area over which both Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) claim jurisdiction.
“Our and Peshmerga are there to prevent the situation erupting because as soon as this command [Dijla] enters deep into the disputed areas… the area will ignite,” said Azad Jendiani, spokesman for the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan which jointly rules the Kurdish region.
Iraqi sources said dozens of Iraqi armoured vehicles and tanks headed on Tuesday from a base in Taji, just north of Baghdad, to Tuz Khurmato, which lies in an area along the border demarcating the Kurdish region from the rest of the country.
“We have moved from Taji to Tuz Khurmato with orders to open fire immediately in response to any attack,” said an intelligence officer attached to the troops.
read more here:
http://jordantimes.com/iraqi-troops-kurdish-forces-face-off-in-disputed-area
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Iraq
This was bound to happen. The situation in Iraqi Kurdistan versus Iraq Central Government is unique. Inside the Kurdish region the Central Government of Iraq has absolutely nothing to say. On the other hand Kurdistan has a lot of influence in the Central Government. The President and the Foreign Minister for instance are Kurdish. When dealing with the Foreign Minister in my time as Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration when requesting him that Iraq should grant IOM recognition and diplomatic status his question was: “what is our benefit”. And, by ‘our’ he did not mean Iraq, but Kurdistan!!!
Anyway, my personal opinion is that Iraq should acknowledge Kurdistan’s de-facto independence and thereby ceasing their influence in the Central Government.
Why this did not happen is that the Kurdish votes count as ‘King Maker’. The present Prime Minister of Iraq, without the Kurdish votes, would have lost the majority support.
Ah well, this is the wonderful democracy.