Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region on Wednesday offered to freeze the results of its controversial independence vote last month as part of a dialogue with Baghdad.
U.S.-supplied M1A1 Abrams tanks to the Iraqi Army provided an asymmetrical advantage over Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces during the battle of Kirkuk.
Kurdish forces pulled out of disputed areas across northern and eastern Iraq on Tuesday, a day after handing the northern city of Kirkuk over to federal forces amid a tense standoff following last month’s vote for independence.
Kurdish forces were withdrawing from Kirkuk on Monday as Iraqi federal forces moved in to the disputed city and seized oil fields and other infrastructure amid soaring tensions over last month’s Kurdish vote for independence.