Tabnak – After days of clashes with Iraq’s governmental forces following the illegal independence referendum, Kurdish forces have reportedly agreed to stop fighting. Meanwhile, it is reported that Iraq’s central government has regained control over most of the borders areas previously claimed by the Kurds.
According to a Reuters report, Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters reached an agreement on Friday to stop fighting in northern Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said, although the status of any ceasefire remained unclear.
A spokesman in Baghdad for the US-led coalition against ISIS earlier said the deal covered all fronts in the conflict, which broke out after Kurdish authorities held an independence referendum last month in areas of northern Iraq. However, he later told Reuters that the truce had not been officially agreed, while an Iraqi military spokesman declined to comment.
In a separate report, NPR notes that earlier this week, the Kurdish regional government offered to freeze its bid for independence, an offer the Iraqi government did not accept. It has urged the Kurds to void the results. Then came the ceasefire announcement.
"Kurdish officials say the agreement was brokered by the United States," as Jane reports. "US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to urge him to enter talks with the Kurds."
Abadi said in a statement that he halted troop movements for 24 hours to allow for discussions about deploying federal Iraqi forces to disputed areas and the international border. He added that this is to "prevent a confrontation and bloodshed between sons of the same country."
In the same vein, Press TV reports that federal Iraqi forces have peacefully taken control of all border crossings ringing the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) following an agreement with Kurdish authorities. The KRG confirmed that the truce had taken effect at 1 a.m. local time on Friday (2200 GMT on Thursday).
Vahal Ali, the director of KRG President Masoud Barzani’s media office, told Reuters, "The ceasefire is holding,” adding, "Diplomatic efforts are underway to set a date for talks to start between Erbil and Baghdad.”
The development came less than two weeks after Iraqi government troops began an operation to take back positions held by Kurdish Peshmerga forces since 2014, when they joined the fight against ISIS terrorists.
The military campaign was a response to a controversial referendum on the secession of the Kurdistan Region and a refusal by the Kurdish militants who had overrun territory in the course of the fight with ISIS to leave those areas.
Under mounting pressure however, the Kurdish leadership offered on Wednesday to freeze the results of the vote and engage in dialog with the central government, but Baghdad wants the results to be totally annulled.
