Battle of Kirkuk (2017)

The Battle of Kirkuk (2017), also referred to as the Kirkuk Crisis, was a re-deployment military movement by the Iraqi Security Forces to reclaim Kirkuk Governorate from the Peshmerga militia. The movement began on 15 October 2017. Nonetheless, the international coalition described the events as "coordinated movements, not attacks", with most Peshmerga withdrawing without much of a fight.

Background
The battle followed the 2017 Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum where voters overwhelmingly supported (93%) "the Kurdistan Region and the Kurdistani areas outside the administration of the Region" to become an independent state. The Kurdish Regional Government considered the referendum binding, while the Iraqi government regarded it as illegal. The oil-rich and multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk was the subject of long-running dispute long before that, and is not recognized by the Iraqi government as part of the autonomous Kurdistan Region. Before ISIS had invaded, Kirkuk was under Iraqi control. Kirkuk was taken from ISIS by Kurdish forces. The Kurdish Peshmerga ignored a deadline given by Iraq to withdraw this on 15 October 2017, the operation to take back the territory under control of the central Iraqi government was initiated. Within 15 hours, the city of Kirkuk, surrounding oil fields as well as several facilities such as a military airport, were reoccupied by Iraqi forces.

The battle
On 15 October 2017, Iraqi forces launched an operation to take the K-1 Air Base near Kirkuk. While Iraqi state media reported that Iraqi units had initially encountered no opposition in taking areas near Kirkuk, the Kurdish Regional Government stated that it was still in control of the K-1 Air Base. Kurdish media later reported that Peshmerga units had engaged in firefights with Popular Mobilization Forces units south of Kirkuk near Taza Khurmatu.

On 16 October 2017, Iraqi forces continued to advance, seizing the Baba Gargar oil field. In Tuz Khurmatu, two people were killed in exchanges of artillery fire. Later in the day, the Iraqi army announced that they had taken full control of the city as U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Force captured provincial government headquarters, afterwards celebrations could be heard by ethnic Turkmen in Kirkuk. PUK Peshmerga units came to an agreement with the Iraqi government forces to withdraw from their positions in Kirkuk, but KDP affiliated Peshmerga units continued to resist the Iraqi advance, entrenching themselves in positions near the city of Dibis. Kurdish media reported that the PMG militia group Hashd al-Shaabi beheaded ten peshmerga fighters in Kirkuk. However, later on 16 October 2017, Kurdish units near Dibis received orders to withdraw, and abandoned the city in the ahead of an Iraqi advance on it. The Iraqi Government claimed on 16 October that it had taken full control of the city of Kirkuk. Kurdish reports indicated that their lines to the south of the city of Kirkuk crumbled once they were engaged by Iraqi M1A1 Abrams tanks.

On 17 October 2017, Iraqi forces continued to advance, taking the Bai Hassan and Avana oil fields near Kirkuk. By the end of 17 October 2017, the Iraqi government claimed to have retaken all oil facilities it had held prior to the ISIS advance on the area in 2014. On 18 October 2017, the Iraqi government declared that they had completed its objectives in the offensive. On 20 October, the Iraqi forces consisted of Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service units, Federal Police and Popular Mobilization Units announced that after a three-hour battle, they had secured the last town of Altun Kupri in the Kirkuk province, which was previously under Kurdish control. This effectively allowed the Iraqi Government to secure control of the remainder of the Kirkuk Province.

Violence and displacement
On 16 October, The Guardian reported with video footage showing streams of ethnic Kurdish refugees fleeing Kirkuk in cars. Most of the displaced returned quickly to Kirkuk after knowing the truth. On 19 October, Nawzad Hadi, governor of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told reporters that around 18,000 families from Kirkuk and the town of Tuz Khurmatu to had taken refuge in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, inside KRG territory. A Hadi aide told Reuters news agency the total number of displaced people was about 100,000. The figure could not be independently verified. and many Kurdish neighbourhoods in Kirkuk city appeared to be operating normally, Reuters reported. Hemin Hawrami, a senior assistant to KRG President Masoud Barzani, said in a post on Twitter that 57,000 families from Kirkuk were in need of "immediate assistance" after arriving in Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Duhok provinces. He said that people had fled "violence, looting and crimes" Inflicted by the Popular Mobilisation Force (PMF), paramilitary units largely made up of Iran-trained Shia militias. A refugee told Al Jazeera they had fled because "At night, they come out and beat the youth. They have burned houses." The United Nations released a statement that it was "concerned about reports regarding the destruction and looting of houses, businesses and political offices, and forced displacement of civilians, predominantly Kurds, from disputed areas", and urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice. A total of 85,000 civilians have returned back to their homes in Kirkuk, a source inside the Iraqi ministry of displacement and migration announced on 23 October 2017.

On 19 October, it was reported that UN relief offices received reports that in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, 150 houses were burned and 11 houses were blown up, while the offices of local Turkmen political parties which had supported Kurdish independence were subjected to assaults. Prime Minister al-Abadi described the incidents as having been caused by what he called "extremist elements from both sides". He Al-Abadi accused social media instigators of posting fake videos of the alleged violations. Niqash website confirmed the Increase of false News. and hundreds of fake videos & pictures. A leaders on both sides say it’s leading to a dangerous escalation of tensions In Northern Iraq. The Iranian-backed Shi'ite Hashd al-Shaabi militia is reported to have detonated and burned homes owned by ethnic Kurds, and, while wearing the uniforms of the Iraqi federal police, used security as a pretext to raid the homes of Kurds and commit acts of violence.

On 25 October, Reuters reported that humanitarian organizations estimated that the number of Kurds displaced from the city of Tuz Khurmato was 30,000, out of the total population of the town being around 100,000; Amnesty International noted that "satellite images, videos, photos and dozens of testimonies indicate that hundreds of properties were looted, set on fire and destroyed in what appeared to be a targeted attack on predominantly Kurdish areas of the city of about 100,000 people." According to an Oxfam manager, Kurdish refugees from Tuz Khurmatu were staying in the open and in public places like mosques and schools, and were in dire need of emergency aid and psychological support due to the traumatic incidents they had witnessed. Amnesty International said that at least 11 people had been killed, citing the testimony of those who had escaped from the city and said they had been attacked by Turkmen Shiite militiae.

Reactions

 * 🇹🇷 Turkey: In a statement on 16 October 2017, the ministry said that Turkey closely monitors Iraq's steps to "restore its constitutional sovereignty over Kirkuk, a homeland for Turkmens for centuries, after the illegitimate referendum conducted by the KRG".


 * 🇮🇶 Iraq: In a statement, the Iraqi government has accused Kurdish authorities of bringing fighters from Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to the disputed province of Kirkuk, in a move it called a "declaration of war".


 * Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR): In a statement on 16 October 2017, the coalition announced that Coalition forces and advisors are not supporting Government of Iraq or Kurdistan Regional Government activities near Kirkuk and strongly urged all sides to avoid escalatory actions.


 * Rival Kurdish factions accused each other of betraying Kirkuk to Iraqi forces.


 * KRG Vice President Kosrat Rasul called the Iraqi forces in Kirkuk and other areas an "occupation"; for this, Iraq's Supreme Court Justice Council ordered his arrest.