As Iraqis and Kurds Square Off Over Kirkuk, City Life Goes On
On Twitter on Friday, Mr. Abadi called reports of an impending assault "fake news." On Sunday night, Mr. Abadi accused Kurdish leaders of bringing fighters from
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey into Kirkuk, calling it "a declaration of war against the rest of Iraq and its federal forces." He provided no evidence.
Tensions in Kirkuk were already high on Saturday night after news reports said Iraqi forces had issued a 2
a.m. Sunday deadline for Kurdish forces to withdraw from contested areas or face unspecified consequences.
On Sunday in Dibis, about 30 miles northwest of Kirkuk, Kurdish soldiers known as pesh merga filed in
and out of a command post near oil fields that emitted black smoke from gas flares.
They say Iraqi government forces have massed south of Kirkuk to prepare for an assault on the city and oil fields.
Late Sunday, Iraq’s foreign ministry announced that Iran, at Iraq’s request, had closed its borders with Iraq near the Kurdish region.
On Friday, pesh merga troops withdrew from two small districts south of Kirkuk, allowing Iraqi government forces to take over their positions.
