Parts of Kirkuk were described as a "ghost city" on Monday as thousands of residents were either in hiding or had fled in fears of clashes after Iraqi military forces launched an operation against Kurdish fighters.
The military operation is rooted in a long-standing territory dispute. The city, home to Iraqi Arabs, Turkmen, Christians and Kurds, emerged as a flashpoint in the crisis between Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, as it is claimed by both sides.
The city has been held by Kurdish forces who recaptured it from ISIL in 2014 and was included in Iraqi Kurdistan's independence vote last month even though it is not part of the Kurdish region.
Thousands of residents were seen fleeing the city as shops, businesses and schools were shut on Monday.
"We're leaving because we're scared there will be clashes" in the ethnically mixed city of 850,000 people, said 51-year-old Chounem Qader.
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Read more:
Iraqi forces seize Kirkuk from Kurdish fighters
Iranian general Qassem Suleimani visits Iraqi Kurdistan amid standoff with Baghdad
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As local crowds on the streets of Kirkuk's southern outskirts welcomed Iraqi forces, an official in charge of displaced individuals said "tens of thousands, mostly Kurds, were heading out of the city".
Omar Dawood, 34 years old, mechanical engineer living in the city, said: "I saw hundreds of people fleeing the city, mostly Kurds, they are going north towards Erbil- the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan," Mr Dawood told The National.
"People in Kirkuk were relieved to hear that Iraqi forces have entered the city, I saw the Iraqi flag being raised," he said.
Mr Dawood raised concern that those who remain in Kirkuk "fear that the Kurds might seek to retaliate, we are all scared and tense."
Iraqi forces seized a key military base, an airport and an oil field from Kurdish fighters in disputed Kirkuk province in a major operation launched on Sunday night. By Monday evening they controlled the city centre.
Soha Ahmad, a 28-year old housewife living in a residential area in Kirkuk told The National that constant gun shots and explosions were heard since early morning.
"We have been in doors the whole day, my family and I are so afraid of leaving our house," Mrs Ahamd said.
"Schools and businesses are closed, I didn't send my kids to school my husband didn't go to work, everything is shut. We are afraid of what is to come.”
Himen Chouani, a 65-year-old Kurd pinned the blame on politicians in both Baghdad and Erbil.
"We were living in peace but politicians don't want good things for us, neither in Baghdad nor Erbil. They're fighting to control the oil, and the victims are us, the residents of Kirkuk," he said.
Rula Ayoub, an English teacher living in Kirkuk told The National that the Peshmerga's intelligence office is opposite to her house.
"We couldn't sleep all night, we saw the employees getting in to cars this morning, the officials fled as soon as reports came in that Iraqi troops were heading towards the centre of the city," Mrs Ayoub said.
The ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk is claimed by both the Kurds and Baghdad's central government.
Kurdish forces took control of the province and other disputed areas in the summer of 2014, when ISIL swept across northern and central Iraq and the Iraqi armed forces crumbled.
The move infuriated the Turkmen and Arabs of Kirkuk as the success of the Kurdish forces in keeping ISIL out also gave the Kurds the upper hand in local politics.
The city participated in Iraqi Kurdistan's independence vote — even though it is not part of the Kurdistan region. The move sparked tensions between Kirkuk’s different ethnic leaders and angered the authorities in Baghdad and Erbil.
In response, the Iraqi parliament asked prime minister Haider Al Abadi to deploy troops to Kirkuk after the referendum results were announced.
Fanar Haddad, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore, said "the current crisis goes beyond the immediate triggers and events of the last few weeks."
Mr Haddad outlined in "Iraq, Kuridstan and Kirkuk: untying the knot" publication that the crisis "is about the extent of Iraq’s writ and the nature of the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil, Arabs and Kurds."
Company%20Profile
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EXPATS
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Where to submit a sample
Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
Company%20profile
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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