Iraq reportedly launches offensive against Kurds to seize oil-rich province of Kirkuk

THE women who defeated Islamic State are being attacked by Iraq. At stake is the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, and the Kurds — including the ‘angels of death’ — are resisting.

A female member of a Kurdish Peshmerga battalion holds a Kurdish flag as she waits to cast her vote in the Kurdish independence referendum at a polling station in Arbil on September 25, 2017. Picture: AFP / SAFIN HAMED

THEY were the only force to successfully stand against the Islamic State. Now the Kurdish Peshmerga — including the lauded ‘angels of death’ — are being attacked by Iraq.

Islamic State’s fate is all but done and dusted.

Both Iraq and the Kurds continue to mop-up the last outposts of resistance.

But Iraq appears to have now attacked the Kurds.

Additional pictures showing a Peshmerga position taken over by Iraqi forces (after Peshmerga withdrew) #Iraq #Kiruk pic.twitter.com/CEhZMyb6RD

— Michael Horowitz (@michaelh992) October 13, 2017

Iraq forces have today reportedly moved on Kurdish-held positions in the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk as tensions soar after an independence vote last month.

“Iraqi armed force are advancing to retake their military positions that were taken over during the events of June 2014,” an Iraqi general told AFP by telephone, asking not to be identified.

But Iraqi government sources have since denied any attack on Kurds, insisting they were instead “mopping up” Islamic State forces in the region.

More footage here #Iraq #Kirkuk pic.twitter.com/Zv4kQhYfDY

— Michael Horowitz (@michaelh992) October 13, 2017

Some Kurdish Peshmerga sources, however, say their fighters have been forced out of some of their border positions by advancing Iraqi government and militia forces.

It’s a turn of events typical of the turmoil in the Middle East.

In 2014, when the Islamic State group swept through areas north and west of Baghdad, the Iraqi army collapsed, abandoned its weapons, and ran.

Kelîyên Şer Di Bajarê Reqaye da Ber Bi Azadiyê ve... pic.twitter.com/FVX3lrJeQV

— YPJ ROJAVA (@DefenseUnitsYPJ) October 13, 2017

Kurdish Peshmerga forces stepped in to take over the fight, successfully resisting — and then repulsing — Islamic State advances, and emerged as the victors of the “Siege of Kobane”.

The Kurds also offered a welcome propaganda victory over Islamic State’s brutal and repressive dogma, fielding well-trained units of female snipers in both Syria and Iraq.

Their most recent victories include the capture of central Raqqa, the Islamic State’s self declared capital in Syria.

Female members of a Kurdish Peshmerga battalion queue inside a polling station as they wait to cast their vote in the Kurdish independence referendum in Arbil, on September 25. Picture: AFP / SAFIN HAMED

ANGEL OF DEATH

The Kurdish Peshmerga fighters came to international prominence when it was revealed the religious-ethnic group had formed bands of female snipers to resist the Islamic State.

One female fighter, known only by the name Rehana, became famous after a picture of her making the peace sign at a parade went viral on Twitter.

It was claimed Rehana had killed more than 100 jihadists in the battle for the strategically important town of Kobane, on the Turkey-Syria border.

This was later revealed to have been an unsubstantiated claim made by Kurdish media.

The photograph of the female Peshmerga fighter named “Rehana”, which helped launch international fame for her unit during the 2014 'siege of Kobane' where they helped repel attacking Islamic State forces.

Australian defence personnel helped provide weapons to the female fighters, who presented a major psychological threat to Islamic State since the Muslim terrorists believe they won’t go to heaven if they are killed by a female fighter.

Almost a third of the Kurdish resistance force during the recent war with Islamic State was believed to be female, including an all-female battalion of the Peshmerga which has been fighting on the front line since the outset.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, also has female fighters. They were reportedly fighting alongside the Peshmerga against Islamic State.

Iraqi Kurds voted in an independence referendum in defiance of Baghdad which has warned of "measures" to defend Iraq's unity and threatened to deprive their region of lifeline oil revenues. Picture: AFP / SAFIN HAMED

KURDS DIG-IN

Kurdish authorities have already deployed thousands of fighters around the disputed oil city of Kirkuk amid fears of an attack by Iraqi government troops and militia.

“Thousands of heavily armed Peshmerga units are now completely in their positions around Kirkuk,” a top aide to Kurdistan regional president Masoud Barzani tweeted.

“Their order is to defend at any cost,” Hemin Hawrami said.

The mobilisation came after the Kurdish authorities accused the Iraqi government of massing forces in readiness for an offensive to seize Kurdish-held oilfields around Kirkuk, as tensions soared following vote for independence last month.

They accused the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) — paramilitary units dominated by Iran-trained Shiite militia — of massing fighters in two mainly Shiite Turkmen areas south of Kirkuk in a bid to provoke a confrontation.

In Iraq, Iran-backed militia PMU is about to go offensive on Kurdish self-defense Peshmerga in Kirkuk https://t.co/Gkq97Tq4Bk pic.twitter.com/XsHzA9w15t

— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) October 13, 2017

Hawrami urged the international community to intervene and call on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to “order PMF to pull back if he can or if they listen to him”.

“No escalation from our side. Just defend and roll them back if they attack,” the senior Barzani adviser said.

Iraqi security forces and allied Popular Mobilization forces fire artillery during fight against Islamic State militants in Fallujah, Iraq. Picture: AP / Anmar Khalil

INDEPENDENCE PLEA

The surge in tensions comes two weeks after Kurdish voters overwhelmingly backed independence in a non-binding referendum that the Iraqi federal government condemned as illegal.

Polling was held in the three Iraqi provinces that have long formed an autonomous Kurdish region as well as neighbouring areas, including Kirkuk, that Kurdish forces seized from the Islamic State group during the fightback against the jihadists’ 2014 offensive through areas north and west of Baghdad.

Last night Popular Mobilization Forces and number of Iraqi Forces were deployed to attack Peshmerga-held areas, particularly around Kirkuk.

— Peshmerga Command (@GCPFKurdistan) October 13, 2017

Baghdad continues to reject decades-old Kurdish ambitions to incorporate Kirkuk and other historically Kurdish-majority areas in their autonomous region.

The Kurdish population of neighbouring Turkey is also regarded as a separatist force by Ankara, which regularly blames crime and terror attacks on the ethnic group.