Iraqi Army Unknown Main phase Later phase Major insurgent attacks Foreign interventions IS genocide of minorities IS war crimes Timeline The Battle of Kirkuk, part of the 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, was a military deployment by the Iraqi Security Forces to retake Kirkuk Governorate from the Peshmerga after the latter ignored repeated warnings to withdraw,[20] sparking clashes between the two forces.

The oil-rich and multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk was the subject of long-running dispute and is not recognised by the Iraqi government as part of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdish Peshmerga ignored a deadline given by Iraq to withdraw from the area by 15 October 2017[22] and the operation to take the territory back under the control of the central Iraqi government was initiated.

Within 15 hours, the city of Kirkuk, surrounding oil fields and several facilities including the military airport were retaken by Iraqi forces.

[7] This, in turn, led to the collapse of Peshmerga defences, and to large-scale accusations of betrayal on the part of the Talabani family by the KDP, since the day before the Battle of Kirkuk, both parties had met in Dukan and had agreed to fight.

[27] Later in the day, the Iraqi Army announced that they had taken full control of the city as U.S.-trained counter-terrorism forces captured the provincial government headquarters.

He said that people had fled "violence, looting and crimes" inflicted by the PMF, paramilitary units largely made up of Iranian trained Shia militias.

"[36] The United Nations released a statement that it was "concerned about reports regarding the destruction and looting of houses, businesses and political offices, and forced displacement of civilians, predominantly Kurds, from disputed areas",[39] and urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

[45] On 25 October, Reuters reported that humanitarian organisations estimated that the number of Kurds displaced from the city of Tuz Khurmato was 30,000 out of a total population of around 100,000;[46] Amnesty International noted that "satellite images, videos, photos and dozens of testimonies indicate that hundreds of properties were looted, set on fire and destroyed in what appeared to be a targeted attack on predominantly Kurdish areas of the city of about 100,000 people.

"[46] According to an Oxfam manager, Kurdish refugees from Tuz Khurmatu were staying in the open and in public places such as mosques and schools, and were in dire need of emergency aid and psychological support due to the traumatic incidents they had witnessed.