The Iraqi government escalated its confrontation with its northern Kurdish region, threatening to send troops and seize oil fields and taking steps to shut down international flights in the region.
The moves came in retaliation for a referendum in which the region, Iraqi Kurdistan, voted decisively to seek independence from Iraq. Nearly 93 percent of voters approved the referendum, which aims to create an independent state for the Kurds, an ethnic minority in Iraq.
Iraq’s Parliament asked the country’s prime minister to deploy troops to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and to take control of all oil fields in the Kurdish region.
Iraq has called the vote illegal and has vowed to ignore the results. The vote has also provoked the Kurdish region’s two powerful neighbors, Turkey and Iran.
All three countries have been conducting military exercises near the border of Iraqi Kurdistan this week.
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