Iraqi Troops and Peshmerga Forces On Verge of Confrontation

[PapaDoc23]

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—In response to the deployment of large numbers of Iraqi troops and Dijla Forces in Kirkuk, Kurdish military officials have dispatched thousands of Peshmerga forces to the province.

Rudaw.net - English - Iraqi Troops and Peshmerga Forces On Verge of Confrontation South of Kirkuk

Iraq PM warns peshmerga to stay put

BAGHDAD - Iraq's premier has warned Kurdish regional security forces not to advance towards government troop positions, a military spokesman said on Monday, after deadly clashes in a flashpoint northern town.


Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office warned the Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, "not to change their positions or approach the (federal) armed forces," Iraqi military spokesman Colonel Dhia al-Wakil said in a message.


The warning was an apparent response to the deployment of thousands of troops from the autonomous Kurdistan region as reinforcements to disputed Tuz Khurmatu, though many of them were subsequently withdrawn, a high-ranking Kurdish officer said.


Clashes in the town on Friday that killed one person and wounded others took place between peshmerga and Iraqi government forces, Kurdistan president Massud Barzani said, but an Iraqi general denied Kurdish forces were involved.


Tensions between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq have been running high after the establishment of a new military command covering disputed territory, and over various other long-running disputes.


Barzani ordered the peshmerga "to exercise restraint in the face of provocations, but also to be in a highest state of readiness to face any aggressive acts."
Kurdish leaders want to expand their autonomous region across a swathe of territory that stretches from Iraq's eastern border with Iran to its western frontier with Syria, against strong opposition by Maliki's government.


The unresolved row poses the biggest threat to Iraq's long-term stability, diplomats and officials say.
US forces played a coordinating role between Kurdish and Arab forces in the disputed territory, forming joint patrols and checkpoints comprised of US soldiers, Iraqi soldiers and troops, and Kurdish peshmerga forces.


But US troops withdrew from Iraq last year, removing a buffer to Arab-Kurd tensions.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=55602



Tensions High Following Iraqi-Kurdish Clashes

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/poli...main-high.html



Turkish President warns of secterian clashes in Iraq

“We always had the concern that, God forbid, this [conflict] may be turned into a sectarian clash. Now our fears are slowly becoming real. This makes us concerned,” Turkish PM said on Wednesday during a press conference in Ankara before his departure for Pakistan for an official visit.

He accused the central Iraqi government of “trying to turn the conflict into a [civil] war.”

Erdo




Turkey PM accuses Baghdad of dragging Iraq to civil war

Relations between Baghdad and KRG have been fraught since the establishment of a new military command covering disputed territory, and over various other long-running disputes including how to share the region's oil wealth.

Iraq and Turkey have been at odds over several issues, including the Syrian conflict, the Turkish military presence in Iraq to pursue Kurdish militants, and the oil dispute.

Also angering Iraq has been Turkey's refusal to extradite fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who has been handed four death sentences by a Baghdad court on charges of running a death squad.

The Baghdad-KRG oil dispute has an impact on Turkey as it has a pipeline handling Kurdish oil and is also a major customer.

Earlier this month, Iraq blocked Turkish national energy firm TPAO from bidding for an oil exploration contract, a decision Erdoğan said was not "smart business," and accused Baghdad of acting "childishly".

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tur...&NewsCatID=338



Iraq tensions added to regional turmoil

Already a cauldron boiling with tension, the Middle East witnesses the emergence of another hotspot as Baghdad faces off against Arbil

Brewing tensions between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq have been turning deadly this week as locals in Arbil express both concern and confidence over the violence amid new clashes in regional flashpoints such as Syria and Gaza.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ira...&NewsCatID=352

In all there has been tension between the Psehmerga and iraqi Army. Hopefully war does not break out but if it does I will put my money on the Peshmerga. They have more experience,more dedicated and more loyal to the KRG. Maliki does not have an airforce.ome of the plains will be difficult but the only thing the Iraqi army posses are tanks and humvees, and the KRG has acquired lots of anti-tank missiles and so on. Malikis army is not loyal and lack experience. But the main factor is the fact that Iraq doesn't have a good air force.

 

[Abii]

Peshmerga forces killed 12 federal troops, wtf do they expect?

And do they seriously think they can do anything against Iraqi forces? What a joke. They will get pummeled.

Iraq should just break away from Kurdistan. Right now the KRG is actually the one that's against this. Without Iraq they will be a land locked nation in the middle of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq. They know they can't survive, but instead of working with Iraq, they do stupid things and then cry when Iraq responds.

 

[Abii]

Iraqi troops

Iraqi convoys crossing Tikrit to AL TUZ.

a brief on that video:

-Iraqi troopers who were wounded in Tuz were themselves kurds!
-the Dijla command has 3 army divisions 12th, 4th and 5th... (and I believe also 2 FP divisions). - a total force exceeding 50k troopers.
-Commander of the 4th division is a Kurd
-most of the commanders in the battalions of the dijla command are themselves kurds!!!!

 

[Banu Umayyah]

Eventually Iraq will break up, this is the only certain thing.

 

[Abii]

Eventually Iraq will break up, this is the only certain thing.

Well the Kurds don't seem to want this.

Right now they need to make up their mind.

 

[TR.1]

Iraqi troops

Hahahahahaa well done Iraq, I support Iraq even though they are non friendly. They shouldn't break up. Kurds giving problems everywhere seriously if they went America they would turn it into Zimbabwe in 20 year.


Time to rise the turkmens.

 

[Abii]

Hahahahahaa well done Iraq, I support Iraq even though they are non friendly. They shouldn't break up. Kurds giving problems everywhere seriously if they went America they would turn it into Zimbabwe in 20 year.


Time to rise the turkmens.

Whether Kurdistan remains with Iraq or not makes little difference in terms of the situation in Turkey/Iran. Right now the KRG does whatever it wants. However if they do beak away than Kurdistan will essentially become dependant on Iran/Iraq/Turkey and Syria. They would become a landlock nation without any access to the outside world. If they try to piss off Iran and Turkey by supporting the PKK than Iran, Turkey and Iraq would just close off their borders and that would be that for Kurdistan. Kurdistan with Iraq is more powerful than Kurdistan as a seperate nation. They know this and this is why they're not breaking away. Nobody's stopping them, they could break away if they wanted to.

btw, your comment about Turkemens is off base b/c Iraqi Turkemens are very much part of the Iraqi society. They've assimilated very well and they don't see themselves as a seperate entity like the Kurds.

 

[TR.1]

Whether Kurdistan remains with Iraq or not makes little difference in terms of the situation in Turkey/Iran. Right now the KRG does whatever it wants. However if they do beak away than Kurdistan will essentially become dependant on Iran/Iraq/Turkey and Syria. They would become a landlock nation without any access to the outside world. If they try to piss off Iran and Turkey by supporting the PKK than Iran, Turkey and Iraq would just close off their borders and that would be that for Kurdistan. Kurdistan with Iraq is more powerful than Kurdistan as a seperate nation. They know this and this is why they're not breaking away. Nobody's stopping them, they could break away if they wanted to.

btw, your comment about Turkemens is off base b/c Iraqi Turkemens are very much part of the Iraqi society. They've assimilated very well and they don't see themselves as a seperate entity like the Kurds.

To an extent but they still have identity not separatists though however now they are saying we want more control and working together with Iraqi / Arabs against kurds.

 

[thefreesyrian]

Wait till bashar is hanged, after that, sunni will get armed. Nothing will stop that, and west and central irak will join syria.
The south will join the shith@le iran and north will be independant

 

[Hasbara Buster]

That's the not so secret long-term Zionist plan; divide the ME region into smaller and weaker states along sectarian or ethnic lines. I posted a couple of great articles about this.

 

[Alienoz_TR]

Wait till bashar is hanged, after that, sunni will get armed. Nothing will stop that, and west and central irak will join syria.
The south will join the shith@le iran and north will be independant

Slow down, separatism is hot bowl that shouldnt be touched.

 

[thefreesyrian]

Slow down, separatism is hot bowl that shouldnt be touched.

Sunni are beeing arrested, killed, executed by the maliki sectarian government, sunni as shown in iraq,iran ,lebanon cannot live under shia islamist. Either they separated, either they enslaved.
Look at the new iraqi army, its 95% shia,
In syria,its also 90% shia, despite they are not beeing more than 10%.
Everywhere the shia try to control the state and enslave muslims

 

[Alshawi1234]

Syria is a destroyed weak starving country with ill equipped fighters. Their economy depends on the iraqi market, they also depend on iraqi oil to an extent. Whether Bashar is in power or not syria must cope with iraq. You just dreaming if your thinking you can just come into iraq. Besides the Syrian civil war is going to last long, there will be a divided syria with Kurdish, alawaite, durzi, and Christian factions controlling their territory.

And if you think you have men, then think again, iraq has a force of over 800 thousand troops, national guard and police. We will make sure we'll take dier al zur and make it a buffer zone.

This Syrian guy is delusional, the iraqi army is about 20% Sunni. The Tigris operations command which is located in Kirkuk is a mostly made of mostly Sunnis with a Sunni commander. No one is arrested for being Sunni.

The KRG depends on the federal government for its budget. The iraqi government does not need to do more than cut the budget to make the whole Kurdish region to collapse. Iraqi troops controls the oil in Kirkuk and Mosul is under iraqi control as well, only some districts in Mosul are user Kurdish control. The peshmerga is not nearly as trained and equipped as the iraqi army. The iraqi army has been fighting and gained experience for the past 8 years.