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| Iraqi Troops Retake All Oil Fields Held by Kurds Since 2014 | Iraqi Troops Retake All Oil Fields Held by Kurds Since 2014 |
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| BAGHDAD — Iraqi troops completed their takeover of all oil fields held by Kurdish separatists on Tuesday, in a push by the Baghdad government to secure control of all disputed areas claimed by Kurds and suppress their independence movement. | BAGHDAD — Iraqi troops completed their takeover of all oil fields held by Kurdish separatists on Tuesday, in a push by the Baghdad government to secure control of all disputed areas claimed by Kurds and suppress their independence movement. |
| The swift military operation, aided by an agreement with a Kurdish faction to withdraw peacefully from the vital city of Kirkuk and surrounding oil-rich areas, dealt a blow to Kurdish dreams of independence from Iraq. The two-day takeover also strengthened the position of the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, who outmaneuvered Kurdish leaders. | The swift military operation, aided by an agreement with a Kurdish faction to withdraw peacefully from the vital city of Kirkuk and surrounding oil-rich areas, dealt a blow to Kurdish dreams of independence from Iraq. The two-day takeover also strengthened the position of the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, who outmaneuvered Kurdish leaders. |
| Kurdish fighters appeared to be in headlong retreat on Tuesday. A senior commander of Kurdish forces defending oil fields outside the city of Dibis, about 30 miles northwest of Kirkuk, said in a telephone interview that his troops had pulled out late Monday night as Iraqi troops closed in. | Kurdish fighters appeared to be in headlong retreat on Tuesday. A senior commander of Kurdish forces defending oil fields outside the city of Dibis, about 30 miles northwest of Kirkuk, said in a telephone interview that his troops had pulled out late Monday night as Iraqi troops closed in. |
| The commander, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak with journalists, said Kurdish forces, known as pesh merga, had received orders to leave Dibis from superiors in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region. | The commander, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak with journalists, said Kurdish forces, known as pesh merga, had received orders to leave Dibis from superiors in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region. |
| In his first public statement since Iraqi forces launched the operation early Monday, Massoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous region, blamed a rival Kurdish faction for withdrawing from contested areas and “unilaterally paving the way for the attack.” | |
| Mr. Barzani seemed to warn Baghdad not to advance beyond those areas. “All resources will be allocated for the security and stability of the Kurdistan Region,” the statement said. | |
| Kurdish fighters and Iraqi government troops are both part of the American-led coalition battling Islamic State militants in Iraq. The United States has not interfered with the government assault on Kurdish-held areas. The coalition and the United States Embassy in Baghdad urged both sides to avoid violence and focus fighting the militants. | Kurdish fighters and Iraqi government troops are both part of the American-led coalition battling Islamic State militants in Iraq. The United States has not interfered with the government assault on Kurdish-held areas. The coalition and the United States Embassy in Baghdad urged both sides to avoid violence and focus fighting the militants. |
| Kurds took over disputed areas adjacent to their autonomous region after Iraqi troops fled an assault by the Islamic State in 2014. Those areas were included in a referendum last month in which the Kurdish region voted overwhelmingly for independence, angering both Baghdad and Washington. | Kurds took over disputed areas adjacent to their autonomous region after Iraqi troops fled an assault by the Islamic State in 2014. Those areas were included in a referendum last month in which the Kurdish region voted overwhelmingly for independence, angering both Baghdad and Washington. |
| The United States condemned the vote, saying it would foment ethnic conflict, destabilize Iraq and undermine the fight against the Islamic State. Baghdad took steps to isolate the landlocked Kurdish region after the referendum, with the help of neighboring Iran and Turkey, and then launched the assault on oil-rich Kirkuk Province early Monday. | The United States condemned the vote, saying it would foment ethnic conflict, destabilize Iraq and undermine the fight against the Islamic State. Baghdad took steps to isolate the landlocked Kurdish region after the referendum, with the help of neighboring Iran and Turkey, and then launched the assault on oil-rich Kirkuk Province early Monday. |
| American troops were in the province but had no role in the fighting, said Col. Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for the coalition in Baghdad. | American troops were in the province but had no role in the fighting, said Col. Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for the coalition in Baghdad. |
| Losing the Kirkuk oil fields could cripple the Kurdish region’s economy, costing it 70 percent of its daily oil production, said Luay al-Khatteeb, the director of the Iraq Energy Institute in Baghdad. | |
| “You can’t sustain a state with just 30 percent of your oil production,” he said. | |
| Kurdish operators produce 790,000 barrels a day, including 550,000 barrels from Kirkuk Province and other contested areas, Mr. Khatteeb said. The region exports 590,000 barrels a day, with the remainder used for domestic refineries and consumption. | |
| Oil analysts say the region has earned about $8 billion a year from oil exports. | |
| The Iraqi military triumph over the Kurds came as the coalition continued to battle Islamic State militants clinging to a strip of desert land and the border city of Qaim, in western Anbar Province near the Syrian border. Iraqi forces, in some instances aided by Kurdish fighters, have steadily driven the militants from most of Iraq since they took over nearly a third of the country in 2014. | The Iraqi military triumph over the Kurds came as the coalition continued to battle Islamic State militants clinging to a strip of desert land and the border city of Qaim, in western Anbar Province near the Syrian border. Iraqi forces, in some instances aided by Kurdish fighters, have steadily driven the militants from most of Iraq since they took over nearly a third of the country in 2014. |
| In Syria, the coalition said allied forces had driven the militants from most of the city of Raqqa, the capital of the militant’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria, and were closing in on the remainder. | In Syria, the coalition said allied forces had driven the militants from most of the city of Raqqa, the capital of the militant’s self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria, and were closing in on the remainder. |