Iraqi forces claimed control of all of Kirkuk province after intense fighting against Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The army said it captured the last town, Altun Kupri, near Erbil, with the help of Shia paramilitaries early on Saturday after a three-hour battle. Al Jazeera reported that Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s ordered the army not to enter Erbil’s city limits, saying they will protect civilians and their property, while respecting what he called the 2003 perimeters of the disputed area. The Peshmerga seized Kirkuk, Iraq’s second oil hub, in mid-2014 when Iraqi troops withdrew from the advancing ISIL group.
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