Multiple Kurdish peshmerga fighters were injured in the clashes, a local security source told Agence France-Presse. The US Department of Defense urged Iraqi and Kurdish forces “to avoid additional escalatory actions” that would detract from the battle against Islamic State. A photographer with Agence France-Presse reported seeing columns of Iraqi troops heading north from the town of Taza Khurmatu towards Kirkuk. Peshmerga forces massed about 20 miles from Kirkuk’s southern limits after units loyal to the central government took positions on the city’s approaches. Kurdish fighters seized Kirkuk in mid-2014, after Iraqi forces had fled from the Islamic State extremists advancing towards them after sacking Mosul.

Source: The Guardian October 15, 2017 23:27 UTC