Iraq parliament demands troops go to areas disputed with Kurds

25 September 2017, 4:05 pm

Edit

Iraq’s parliament is demanding that troops be sent to disputed areas in the north controlled by the Kurds since 2003 as the autonomous Kurdish area staged a referendum on independence.

“Parliament demands that the head of the army (Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi) deploy forces in all of the zones the autonomous region of Kurdistan has taken control of since 2003,” a resolution says.

The nonbinding vote, initiated by veteran leader Massud Barzani, has angered not only Iraq’s federal government but also neighboring Turkey and Iran, who are concerned it could stoke separatist aspirations among their own sizable Kurdish minorities.

— Agencies