Judy Woodruff: Today, Iraq has rekindled long-term competition among its crucial American allies.
Iraqi military forces and militia operations push Kurdish forces out of the disputed city of Kirkuk in the north of the country.
Lisa Desjardins started our coverage.
man (via interpreter): Dr. Haider al-Abadi, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, issued an order to protect the people of Kirkuk and impose security in the city.
Lisa Desjardins: After months of pressure, Iraqi federal forces recaptured the controversial city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces.
Efforts initiated before dawn. By noon, Iraqi soldiers and state-backed militias quickly controlled several large oil fields north of the city. The Iraqis also occupied the military airports and various government buildings in Kirkuk. They lowered the symbolic Kur German flag of the Governor’s Court.
Reporter Rebecca Collard in Irbil this morning in Kirkuk.
Rebecca Collard, Reporter: You will hear some conflicts, some gunshots in the distance, but for the most part, the city seems to be more or less abandoned. Now, by the end of today, Iraqi troops basically control the entire city and many suburbs of Kirkuk.
Lisa Desjardins: A spokesman for the Iraqi Shiite militia said they achieved all goals.
Ahmed al-Assadi, Al-Hashed Al-Shaabi’s spokesperson (via the translator): When the troops approached the area, they encountered some insurgents who tried to hinder the progress of the advance troops. Our troops were on fire and silent about its sources.
Lisa Desjardins: This is three weeks after the Kurdish referendum on non-conjugation independence, including the controversial Kirkuk province.
More than 90% of the residents in Kurdish voted to break up with Iraq. The Iraqi federal government, Türkiye, Iran and the United States all rejected the path to independence.
The multiethnic region of Kirkuk is located in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Kirkuk is known as the country’s oil capital and produces about 500,000 barrels per day.
In 2014, the Kurds took control of Kirkuk as Iraqi troops fled the city during an ISIS attack in northern Iraq. In the three years since, despite tensions with the central government, the Kurds, under the leadership of its President Massoud Barzani, have sought to consolidate their detention.
Today, Kurdish officials accused Iraq of carrying out a major multiple attack.
Major Gen. Ayoub Yusuf said, Commander Peshmerga (via the interpreter): I don’t know what exactly happened because we’ve been in this fight since 4:00 am. We have suffered casualties including martyrs and now we have withdrawn this post. Some other Kurdish forces have withdrawn. They didn’t shoot.
Lisa Desjardins: When Kurdish forces quit the post office south of the city, some residents vowed to fight to the death. Thousands of others fled north.
Rebecca Collard: Over the past few years, Iraqi forces, these are mainly Shiite militias, Shaabi and Kurdish forces have been focusing on fighting ISIS. Now the battle is coming to an end, and the fear is that these internal clefts in Iraq will now become more obvious and possibly more violent.
Lisa Desjardins: These conflicts caused one American-armed military force to attack another. The Kurdish forces and Iraqi government forces are both part of the combat ISIS. The United States tried to downplay the fight, marking the gunshot exchange as a misunderstanding.
And, in the Rose Garden, President Trump tries to remain neutral.
President Donald Trump: We don’t like the fact that they are in conflict. We didn’t stand aside. But we don’t like the fact that they are in conflict.
Lisa Desjardins: For PBS Newshour, I’m Lisa Desjardins.
Judy Woodruff: For more information, I’m now joining Emma Sky. From 2007 to 2010, she served as commander of the U.S. Army in Iraq and served as Feisal Istrabadi, where she served as an advisor to General David Peteres. He is the former Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, and he helped write Iraq’s interim constitution.
Welcome to you two.
Let me start with you, Emma Sky.
This happened so quickly. What exactly has the Iraqi government done?
Emma Sky, Yale University: Iraqi government has deployed its troops back to Kirkuk.
Since 2003, the Kurds have made it clear that they want to include Kirkuk within their territory to continue to gain independence, which has been their goal. But Kirkuk is important to Iraq itself, and the Iraqi Prime Minister cannot afford to lose Kirkuk.
So you can see that this reaction happened after the referendum on independence that took place on September 25, and also included the disputed territory and the city of Kirkuk.
Judy Woodruff: Feisal Istrabadi, what can you add to add why the Iraqi government is so concerned about the city?
Feisal Istrabadi, Former UN Ambassador, Iraq: Well, there are several reasons.
First, as Emma said, it is part of a disputed territory, and in both law and constitutional terms, Baghdad is under the jurisdiction of the federal government. As the ISIL expanded its territory, KRG expanded to these disputed territories before starting to take steps to unilaterally declare that these regions are now included in the Kurdistan region, including the referendum mentioned by Emma.
It includes holding a referendum on these disputed territories. Now, as long as Iraq – as long as we talk about a country, there are a little fewer people who control Kirkuk, but once a referendum is held, this will lead to the second reason why Baghdad chose to take action now.
As Emma said, Kirkuk is an important production area in Iraq. This is crucial to the economic feasibility of independent Kurdish countries and the economic feasibility of Iraqi countries. So, I don’t think there will ever be a scenario where Baghdad will allow unilateral control of the Kurds as long as it is independent on the table.
Judy Woodruff: Emma Sky, we hear President Trump say that the United States does not support this today.
Is this accurate, is the United States not going to one side? What is the role of the United States?
Emma Sky: Well, the United States has made it over and over again that its policy is to support Iraqi United.
So you can see that the United States has supported Iraqi security forces and has also provided support to the Kurdish Peshmerga to fight ISIS. The U.S. policy in the past few years has indeed focused on ISIS, not the day after ISIS.
But what we are witnessing is that different groups have moved to the next day, which is a power struggle to control different territories of Iraq.
Barzani believes that in the fight against ISIS, he became stronger because he obtained weapons directly from the international community. And, as Feisal said, he was able to extend control of the disputed territory.
He also faces family problems in Kurdistan. There is tension between different Kurdish groups, and some believe Barzani has extended his presidency.
Judy Woodruff: This reminds us of how complicated it is, Feisal Istrabadi.
What does the Iraqi central government want here? They will not get rid of the Kurds. What do they want?
Feisal Istrabadi: Oh, well, I mean, the Kurds are certainly an important part of Iraq. They are an important part of the political process and are represented in Baghdad. The Iraqi president is Kurdish and has been Kurdish since 2005.
What I think needs to happen, I hope the Iraqi government wants is a negotiated solution, in which no party asks for the other party’s terms, but a negotiated solution.
Look, Irbil has some legal agreements on Baghdad. Baghdad has some legal agreements with Albir. I think we might need a mediator or someone to call a roundtable (the United States I am thinking of course) to solve some of these problems.
Most of the problems are from the economic issues on the side of Irbil, from the Baghdad side, transparent irbil production and export volumes, which Irbil never explained to Baghdad.
I think if these issues are solved, maybe hope some other issues can be delayed at least another day. But, at the end of the day, neither the Baghdad regional government nor the federal government can truly tolerate each other’s statement about its terminology. My hope is to achieve a negotiated solution.
Judy Woodruff: Emma Sky, where did you see from here? Have you seen the peace that different parties work to create for this purpose to uncover Iraq’s influence?
Emma Sky: I think there is an opportunity for a deal, and the kind of deal I think I can negotiate is a deal that explores the special status of the city of Kirkuk and negotiates on the terminology of Kurdistan independence, whether it is moving towards alliances or towards independence.
But negotiations are needed. It is necessary to see where the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq should be, which requires mediation by region through these territories.
Judy Woodruff: Well, we know there are other players who play a big role here in Iran and Türkiye, and when we watch it, it’s all very important to watch it happen in Iraq.
Emma Sky, Feisal Istrabadi, thank you very much.
Feisal Istrabadi: Thanks.
Emma Sky: Thanks.
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