Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Paramilitaries Battle Kurds in Push Towards Turkish Border Oil Hub

Oct 25, 2017 | Maher Chmaytelli, Reuters
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Iraqi pro-government paramilitaries launched an offensive against Kurdish troops on Tuesday near the Turkish frontier, pushing towards a strategic border crossing and oil export pipeline hub that Baghdad says must come under its control. The Iraqi government has transformed the balance of power in the north of the country since launching a campaign last week to seize back territory from the Kurds, who govern an autonomous region of three northern provinces and had also seized a swathe of other territory in northern Iraq.