Kurdistan authorities have accused the central Iraqi government of planning to seize oil fields in the autonomous region. Baghdad is amassing military power in two areas south of Kirkuk – the center of the oil-rich region that is formally part of Iraq but de facto controlled by the Kurdish government. The AFP separately quoted an Iraqi general who confirmed the information, saying “Iraqi armed force are advancing to retake their military positions that were taken over during the events of June 2014.” In 2014, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces took over Kirkuk, driving IS out. Since the, the multiethnic city has been the subject of an ongoing dispute between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Baghdad. The latest news reports from Iraq say that Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi first denied there was a government plan in progress to retake the oil fields around Kirkuk, and then ordered a halt to the […]