ALTUN KUPRI: Iraqi forces on Friday clashed with Kurdish fighters as the central government said it wrestled back control of the last area of disputed Kirkuk province in the latest stage of a lightning operation following a controversial independence vote.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said police, counter-terrorism units and allied militias seized the Altun Kupri region, expanding the central government’s territory to within 50 kilometres of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region.

The two sides exchanged mortar and automatic gun fire but Iraqi forces managed to “hoist the flag on the municipality building” after carrying out an assault, a security source in the city of Kirkuk said.

A Kurdish general, Ghazi Dolemri, was killed in the fighting, sources said, while a journalist reported further shelling as Iraqi government forces and the Hashed-Shaabi militia advanced on Sirawa, five kilometres north of Altun Kupri.

The fresh gains come after Iraq’s central authorities snatched back control of a swathe of disputed territory from Kurdistan in a largely bloodless operation since the weekend.

The government advances — and Kurdish retreat — have rewritten the volatile boundaries between the two sides and trashed Arbil’s dreams of independence that soared after a Sept 25 referendum opposed by Baghdad.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2017