Iraqi Kurds Battle Fighters in Kirkuk
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iraqi Kurds clashed with ISIL fighters over control of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, as thousands of internally displaced refugees head to to the area to escape the swelling violence.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces fought with fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Wednesday in an attempt to establish control over the northern city and its vast oil reserves, a potential high-value economic zone that Kurdish leaders believe can heavily boost their ambitions of a sovereign state.
Baghdad's military retreat from the north last week allowed Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to seize control of the area.
Falah Mustafa, KRG's foreign minister, told Al Jazeera that the fighting had ended and the area was secure with fighters pushed back.
"There were some problems in Bashir which is a predominantly Turkmen area and Mana Abdallah which is an Arab area, but Peshmerga forces defended the territories and now the situation is back to normal," he said.
The relatively calm, semi-autonomous region has taken in at least 300,000 people fleeing fighting in the northern city of Mosul.
Fighting has engulfed much of the north, with the ISIL seizing control of Iraq's largest oil refinery after a successive day of heavy clashes.
The fighters laid siege to the Baiji facility, about 210km north of Baghdad, threatening to cut off the country's domestic oil supplies.
A senior manager of the state-owned North Oil Company said the fighters attacked parts of the refinery complex, leading to casualties among security forces personnel.