MARYAM BEIK :Thousands of Iraqi troops were locked in an armed standoff with Kurdish forces in the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk as Washington scrambled to avert fighting between its allies in the war against the Islamic State group.
The Kurds said that Baghdad had set a deadline for their forces to surrender positions they took during the fightback against the militants over the past three years.
The deadline, originally set for 2:00 am Sunday, was extended by 24 hours during a meeting overnight, a Kurdish official said early Sunday, asking not to be named.
On Saturday, armoured vehicles bearing the Iraqi national flag were posted on the bank of a river on the southern outskirts of the city of Kirkuk, media reported.
On the opposite bank, Kurdish peshmerga fighters were visible behind an earthen embankment topped with concrete blocks and the red, white, green and yellow colours of the Kurdish flag.
“Our forces are not moving and are now waiting for orders from the general staff,” an Iraqi army officer told media, asking not to be identified.
Just before midnight (2100 GMT) Iraqi forces used loudhailers to call on the peshmerga fighters to withdraw.
