(9 Oct 2017) Iraqi troops were seen deployed together with state-sanctioned Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Taza area, south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, on Friday.
The PMF consists of mainly Shiite Arab militias, many of which are backed by neighbouring Iran.
The move came as a commander said on Friday that Kurdish forces known as peshmerga have withdrawn from the edges of the disputed region in northern Iraq amid tensions with Iraq's central government over the administration of Kirkuk.
Lt. Gen Wasta Rasul said the peshmerga evacuated positions southwest of city, while an officer in the Iraqi Army's 9th Armored Division said federal forces had moved into positions left by the Kurdish forces in the same area.
The army officer spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Tensions in the area have escalated since the Kurds voted for independence in a non-binding referendum last month.
Iraq, Iran and neighbouring Turkey have all rejected the referendum and insist Iraq's borders will not be redrawn.
Kurdish forces took control of Kirkuk when Iraqi defences crumbled in the face of the advancing Islamic State group in 2014.
Baghdad is demanding the Kurds return the city, which falls outside the autonomous Kurdish zone, to federal authority.
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