Armed clashes erupt between Peshmerga, Iraqi army near Kirkuk

Shafaq News/ Armed clashes erupted between Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi Army in Mount Qarachogh, a territory between Erbil and Nineveh, a security source revealed on Sunday.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that these clashes erupted due to a dispute over the control of security checkpoints previously evacuated by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters.

The clashes, in which "light weaponry" was deployed, resulted in injuries on both sides.

On October 19, 2023, the PKK announced that it withdrew its forces from the Makhmour refugee camp situated south of Erbil.

The Central Command of the People's Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the PKK, issued a statement, confirming that they had ordered the withdrawal of all armed members from the Makhmour camp, relocating them to the Qandil Mountains and other areas within the Kurdistan region.

This withdrawal occurred after the threat from the Islamic State (ISIS) had subsided, as some of the PKK's fighters were transferred to the camp in 2014 with the goal of combating ISIS militants.

Two days after the withdrawal of the PKK, on Saturday, General Abdul Amir Rashid Yaarallah, the Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army, arrived at the headquarters of the 14th Infantry Division in Makhmour.