JUDY WOODRUFF:
A long-standing rivalry between vital American allies has been renewed in Iraq today.
Iraqi armed forces and militias have taken steps to push Kurdish forces out of the disputed northern city of Kirkuk.
Lisa Desjardins begins our reporting.
MAN (through interpreter):
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Dr. Haider al-Abadi, gave orders to protect the people of Kirkuk and ensure security in the city.
LISA DEJARDIN:
After months of rising tension, Iraqi federal troops have moved to retake the disputed city of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces.
The effort began before dawn. By midday, Iraqi soldiers, along with state-backed militias, had quickly taken control of several large oil fields north of the city. The Iraqis also captured the Kirkuk military airport and various government buildings. They lowered a symbolic Kurdish flag at the governor's residence.
Journalist Rebecca Collard from Erbil was in Kirkuk this morning.
REBECCA COLLARD, journalist:
Some clashes and shooting could be heard in the distance, but for the most part the city seemed more or less abandoned. Now the Iraqi army, by the end of today, actually controlled the entire city and many of the outskirts of Kirkuk.
LISA DEJARDIN:
An Iraqi Shiite militia spokesman said they achieved all their goals without much resistance.
AHMED AL-ASSADI, Al-Hashed Al-Shaabi Spokesman (via translator): As the troops approached the area, they encountered some insurgents who tried to impede the advance of the advancing units. Our troops returned fire and silenced its source.
LISA DEJARDIN:
It came three weeks after the Kurds held a non-binding independence referendum that included the disputed province of Kirkuk.
More than 90 percent of the Kurdish region voted to secede from Iraq. The Iraqi federal government, Türkiye, Iran and the United States have rejected the desire for independence.
The cosmopolitan region of Kirkuk is located near the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Kirkuk, called the country's oil capital, produces about 500,000 barrels per day.
In 2014, amid ISIS's advance into northern Iraq, the Kurds took control of Kirkuk as the Iraqi military abandoned the city. In the three years since then, the Kurds, led by their president Massoud Barzani, have sought to consolidate their power despite tensions with the central government.
Kurdish officials today accused Iraq of carrying out a major multi-pronged attack.
MIJ. GENE. AYUB YUSUF, Peshmerga Commander SAID (through interpreter):
I don't know what exactly is happening because we've been fighting this battle since four in the morning. We have victims, including martyrs, and we have now retreated to this position. Some other Kurdish forces left. They didn't fire a single shot.
LISA DEJARDIN:
As Kurdish forces withdrew from posts south of the city, some residents vowed to die fighting. Thousands more fled north.
REBECCA COLLARD:
Over the past few years, Iraqi forces, primarily Shiite militias, Hashed Shaabi and Kurdish forces, have been focused on fighting ISIS. Now that fight is coming to an end, there are fears that these internal divisions in Iraq will now become more visible and perhaps more violent.
LISA DEJARDIN:
These clashes pit one military force, mostly armed by Americans, against another. Both Kurdish forces and Iraqi government troops are part of the coalition fighting ISIS. The US has sought to downplay the fighting, calling the shooting a misunderstanding.
And in the Rose Garden, President Trump tried to remain neutral.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:
We don't like the fact that they are in conflict. We don't take sides. But we don't like the fact that they conflict.
LISA DEJARDIN:
For PBS NewsHour, I'm Lisa Desjardins.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
Moreover, Emma Skye has now joined me. She was an adviser to General David Petraeus when he was commander of US forces in Iraq from 2007 to 2010, as well as to Faisal Istrabadi. He is a former Iraqi ambassador to the UN and helped write Iraq's interim constitution.
Welcome to both of you.
Let me start with you, Emma Skye.
It happened so quickly. What exactly did the Iraqi government do?
EMMA SKY, Yale University:
The Iraqi government returned its forces north to Kirkuk.
And since 2003, the Kurds have made it clear that they want to incorporate Kirkuk into their territory to continue gaining independence, which has always been their goal. But Kirkuk is important to Iraq itself, and no Iraqi prime minister can afford to lose Kirkuk.
So you can see this reaction that happened after the independence referendum that took place on September 25th and also affected the disputed territories and the city of Kirkuk.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
Faisal Istrabadi, what can you add to why the Iraqi government is so eager to take over the city?
Faisal Istrabadi, former Deputy UN Ambassador to Iraq:
Well, a couple of reasons.
First, as Emma just said, this is part of the disputed territories that are legally and constitutionally under the jurisdiction of the federal government in Baghdad. The PKK expanded into these disputed territories at a time when ISIS was expanding its territory, and then began taking steps to unilaterally declare that these territories were now included in the Kurdistan region, including when it held the referendum that Emma referred to.
It included holding a referendum in these disputed territories. Now, as long as Iraq is – as long as we're talking about one country, who controls Kirkuk matters a little less, but once the referendum was held, it gave rise to the second reason why Baghdad decided to act now.
As Emma said, Kirkuk is an important oil producing area in Iraq. And this is vital to the economic viability of an independent Kurdish state and an important part of the economic viability of the Iraqi state. Therefore, I think there will never be a scenario in which Baghdad allows the Kurds to exercise unilateral control over Kirkuk as long as independence is on the agenda.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
Emma Skye, today we heard President Trump say that the United States is not taking sides on this issue.
Is it true that the US doesn't take sides? What is the US role here?
EMMA SKY:
Well, the US has said time and time again that its policy is to support a united Iraq.
So you can see that the US has supported the Iraqi security forces as well as the Kurdish Peshmerga in the fight against ISIS. US policy over the last few years has really been focused on ISIS, not the day after ISIS.
But what we are seeing at the moment is that the various groups are already moving on to the next day, which is the fight for control of various territories in Iraq.
And Barzani believed that during the fight against ISIS he became stronger because he received weapons directly from the international community. And, as Faisal stated, he was able to extend his control to the disputed territories.
It also faces internal problems in Kurdistan. There is tension between various Kurdish factions, and some believe Barzani has overstayed his term as president.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
This reminds us how difficult it is, Faisal Istrabadi.
What does the Iraqi central government want here? They are not going to get rid of the Kurds. What do they want?
Faisal Istrabadi:
Oh, well, I mean, the Kurds are, of course, a vital part of Iraq. They are a vital part of the political process, and they were represented in Baghdad. The President of Iraq has been Kurdish since 2005.
I think what needs to happen, and I hope, is that the Iraqi government wants a negotiated settlement, in which neither side dictates the terms of the other, but a negotiated settlement.
Look, Erbil has some legal agreements regarding Baghdad. Baghdad has some legal agreements regarding Erbil. I think we may need a mediator or someone to convene a round table (I'm thinking of the United States, of course) to solve some of these problems.
Most of the problems on Erbil's side are economic issues of payments, and on Baghdad's side most are transparency about how much oil Erbil produces and exports, which Erbil has never reported to Baghdad about.
I think if these issues are resolved, perhaps some of these other issues can be put off for at least another day. But in the end, no government – neither the regional government nor the federal government in Baghdad – can truly tolerate terms being dictated to them by the other side. I hope that a negotiated settlement will be reached.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
Emma Skye, what do you see happening next? Do you see the peace that various parties worked hard to create in Iraq crumbling as a result?
EMMA SKY:
I think there is room for an agreement, and I think the kind of deal that can be done is a deal that looks at a special status for the city of Kirkuk and negotiated terms for a separate Kurdistan, whether towards confederation or towards independence.
But there must be negotiations. It is necessary to consider where the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq should actually lie, and this requires mediation by area through these territories.
JUDY WOODRUFF:
Well, we know that there are other players who play important roles here in Iran and Turkey, and all of this is very much playing out as we watch, watch this happen in Iraq.
Emma Skye, Faisal Istrabadi, thank you very much.
Faisal Istrabadi:
Thank you.
EMMA SKY:
Thank you.
