BAGHDAD, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi forces completely ended major operations to recapture disputed areas claimed by Baghdad and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, the Iraqi military said on Wednesday.
The troops "ended imposing security to remaining areas of Kirkuk (province), including al-Debis area, the town of al-Multaqa and the oil fields of Khubbaz, northern Bay Hassan, southern Bay Hassan, the Imposing Security in Kirkuk Operations Command said in a statement.
The troops also redeployed in the areas of Khanaqin and Jalawlaa and related villages and towns in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, the statement said.
In the northern province of Nineveh, the troops redeployed in the areas of Makhmour, Bashiqa, and some areas in Nineveh Plain, in addition to Mosul Dam, the city of Sinjar, the town of al-Awiynat and the Rabia area near the border with Syria, the statement added.
The statement came after the Kurdish Peshmerga forces withdrew, leaving Kirkuk city and surrounding areas to the Iraqi forces without fighting.
On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, ordered government forces to enter the oil-rich Kirkuk province in northern Iraq to regain control of the ethnically-mixed disputed areas.
In his first statement after the withdrawal of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces from Kirkuk province, the Kurdish regional President Masoud Barzani said, "due to the withdrawal, the (defensive) line changed to be on the line that was agreed upon between Baghdad and Erbil before the operations to free Mosul on Oct. 17, 2016."
This line "will be the basis of understanding on how to deploy Iraqi forces and troops in the Kurdistan region," Barzani said.
Disagreements between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government have been running high for years. The ethnic Kurds consider the northern Kirkuk province and parts of Nineveh, Diyala and Salahudin provinces as disputed areas and want them to be incorporated into their region, a move fiercely opposed by the Arabs and Turkomans and by the central government in Baghdad.
Tensions are escalating between Baghdad and the region of Kurdistan after the Kurds held a controversial referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region and the disputed areas.
The independence of Kurdistan is opposed not only by the Iraqi central government, but also by most other countries as it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and undermine the fight against IS militants.
Iraq's neighboring countries, especially Turkey, Iran and Syria, fear that the Iraqi Kurds' pursuit of independence threatens their territorial integrity, as large Kurdish populations live in those countries.
