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Mattis urging Iraqi, Kurdish forces to avoid conflict

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is urging Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces to stay focused on defeating the Islamic State group and not turn on each other as tensions spike in the disputed region around Kirkuk.

 

Mattis says the US is trying to calm the already fractious relations between the two sides and figure out a way ahead.

 

Kurdish forces had taken positions southwest of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk but later withdrew. Iraqi government troops are also moving around the area. Mattis says that while there have been troop movements, he hasn't heard of any fighting.

 

He says US troops embedded with Iraqi and Kurdish units are working to reduce any potential for conflict.

 

Tensions escalated after the Kurds voted for independence from Iraq in a non-binding referendum last month.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.14.17, 00:00