DIYALA, Iraq
A leader of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting against a militant onslaught in northern Iraq has accused the Iraqi army of "treachery."
Mohammed Sankkawi said that Peshmerga forces in the Carmean region of northern Iraq were fired upon from their rear by the Iraqi forces during an operation on Monday to assist those same Iraqi forces in securing their positions. He said they were attacked with "mortar shells and helicopters, yet we received orders not to respond on their attack."
Sankkawi said they are waiting a clarification from Iraq's central government.
Sankkawi told Anadolu Agency that Kurdish forces were attacking rebels from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIL, pointing out that “many areas must be restored until the top of the Hermine mountains, which form the borders of northern Iraqi government with the central government."
Meanwhile, Peshmerga forces are stationed in an Iraqi army military base in the area of "Koubra" in Diyala province, which has become a dividing line between Peshmergas and ISIL militants, who have seized the town of Saadia in Jalaula city -- 12 kilometers from Koubra -- witnessing clashes between Peshmergas and ISIL.
ISIL, which already had control of parts of Syria, has extended its reach into Iraq since June 10, when it seized Iraq's second-largest city Mosul and soon afterwards took near-complete control of the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit.
The group seized large swathes of western Iraq’s Anbar Province in January, including much of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, flashpoints of the US-led war in 2003.
www.aa.com.tr/en
