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Iraqi Forces Reestablish Security in Kirkuk, Thousands of Civilians on Their Way Back

Iraqi Forces Reestablish Security in Kirkuk, Thousands of Civilians on Their Way Back
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Local Editor

Thousands of civilians returned to Iraq's Kirkuk after fleeing the city as government forces pushed Kurdish militants out of it and established security there.

Iraqi Forces Reestablish Security in Kirkuk, Thousands of Civilians on Their Way Back

Residents headed back along a main highway to the Kirkuk's east on Tuesday with their children and belongings packed in their cars.

Police called on the residents, who had fled in their thousands for fear of a potential armed confrontation, to return, giving assurances that the situation is stable.

The city is now under a night-time curfew.

In this regard, Iraqi President Fuad Masum said in a televised address that troops had no choice but to take over the administration of Kirkuk after Kurdish authorities held a referendum for independence last month.

Masum, himself a Kurd, said the independence vote "provoked dangerous disputes" between Baghdad and Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also said the Kurdish referendum "is finished and has become a thing of the past."

Addressing a news conference in Baghdad, Abadi called for dialog with Kurdish authorities to resolve the dispute "under the Constitution."

Meanwhile, Iraqi Alforat news agency also said army forces were now in control of all of the city's government buildings, state-owned North Oil and North Gas companies, the Kirkuk International Airport, and K-1 Airbase.

Cited by Reuters, an Iraqi army officer said government forces had also taken control of all oilfields operated by the North Oil Company in the province.

Government troops have also reopened the highway linking the Kirkuk City and the capital Baghdad, Iraq's al-Sumariyah television network reported.

Kurdish forces have been holding parts of Iraqi territory since 2014, when Daesh began an offensive across Iraq and the Kurds began fighting it and overrunning territory in the process.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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