Iraqi forces attack Kurds in Kirkuk

Iraqi militias on Monday took positions inside the disputed northern city of Kirkuk after fighting with Kurdish forces. The Kurdistan Region Security Council in a statement released Monday said Iraqi federal forces and state-backed militia staged an “unprovoked attack” on the city. Kurdish forces fled their posts as the federal troops advanced, claiming control of the city’s power station and large oil fields nearby. Police officials at a checkpoint to the north said Kurdish families were fleeing to the city of Erbil. The Kurdish and Iraqi government have long fought over control of oil-rich Kirkuk. Tensions escalated after the Kurds held a non-binding referendum last month seeking independence from Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a statement said he was fulfilling his constitutional duty to protect the country’s unity and called on people to go back to their “normal lives.”