KIRKUK, Iraq, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Monday fully recaptured the city of Kirkuk and took control of the government building after the Kurdish forces withdrew from the city, a local security source told Xinhua.
The Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), Iraqi army, federal police and the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi brigades swept the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, and took control of provincial government building in central the city, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The Iraqi forces deployed in the main streets of the city and seized the other government buildings after the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and thousands of militants affiliated with the leading Kurdish parties withdrew from the streets, the source said.
Earlier in the day, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered government forces to enter the oil-rich Kirkuk province in northern Iraq to regain control of the disputed areas claimed between Baghdad and the Kurdish semi-autonomous region.
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 Islamic State militants.
Iraq's neighboring countries, especially Turkey, Iran and Syria, fear that the Iraqi Kurds' pursuit of independence threatens their territorial integrity, as a large Kurdish population lives in those countries.
