Iraq conflict: Kurds seize two oil fields in north

[Valin]

BBC:

7/11/14

 

Iraqi Kurds have taken over two oil fields amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad, Iraqi and Kurdish sources say.

 

Kurdish peshmerga forces seized control of production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oil fields in the north of the country on Friday.

 

Kurdish MPs have also withdrawn from Iraq's central government.

 

They did so after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists.

 

Kurdish forces have moved into areas of north-western Iraq abandoned by the Iraqi army during the advance of Islamist insurgents led by the Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) group over the past month.

 

The Kurds have since declared plans to hold a referendum on independence in the areas seized, escalating tensions with Iraq's central authorities.

 

(Snip)

 

H/T Hot Air