BAGHDAD: Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi on Monday warned there could be a “civil war” over the Kurdish-administered city of Kirkuk if talks over Kurdish independence are left unresolved.
Allawi, in an interview with The Associated Press, urged Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, as well as Iraq’s central government and its Iranian-backed militias, to show restraint and resolve their disputes over the oil-rich city.
Ruling out a military solution to the crisis, Ihssan Al-Shimari, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi, told Arab News: “Talking about a civil war between Kurds and Arabs is an attempt to pressure both sides — Baghdad and Kurdistan — but the reality on the ground doesn’t indicate any of these expectations.”
Al-Shimari said: “The prime minister has flatly refused to fight Kurdish citizens and still relies on constitutional measures, which offer a wide range of options to the federal government to deal with the crisis.”
He added: “Kirkuk is a disputed area, and according to the constitution its administration has to go back to the Iraqi federal government.”
Kirkuk was included in Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence referendum last month, even though it falls outside the autonomous Kurdish region in the country’s northeast.
The ethnically mixed city has been administered by Kurdish forces since 2014, when the Iraqi military fled a Daesh advance.
The referendum was held despite strong objections from Baghdad, Ankara and Tehran. Barzani has not yet declared independence.
“Iraqis should be left alone to discuss their own problems without interference,” said Allawi. “Kirkuk has become a flashpoint.”
The head of the Asaib Al-Haq militia, Qais Khazali, on Sunday warned that the Kurds were planning to claim much of northern Iraq, including Kirkuk, for an independent state, after they voted for independence in a controversial but non-binding referendum two weeks ago.
He said it would be tantamount to a “foreign occupation,” reported the Afaq TV channel, which is close to the state-sanctioned militia.
Allawi, a former prime minister, said any move by the country’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs), which include Asaib Al-Haq, to enter Kirkuk would “damage all possibilities for unifying Iraq” and open the door to “violent conflict.”
He said if the government controls the PMUs, as it claims, it “should restrain them, rather than go into a kind of civil war.” Allawi also urged the Kurdish side “not to take aggressive measures to control these lands.”
Mohammed Naji, a lawmaker and a senior leader of Badr — one of the most prominent Iraqi Shiite militias — told Arab News: “It’s early to pick up the last option (confrontation). The federal government will use all available measures to contain the crisis, and using (military) power to impose federal authority (in Kirkuk) and preserve the unity of Iraqi lands and people will be the last option.”
Naji said: “From the beginning, we’ve said the referendum is unconstitutional. It violates the first item of the Iraqi constitution, and any action that aims to divide Iraq is unacceptable to all Iraqis.”
He added: “Resolving the problem of Kirkuk and the other disputed areas would be according to the constitution, and we can go back to talks (with the Kurds) under the umbrella of the constitution.”
He continued: “We’ve asked both parties (Baghdad and Irbil) to abide by the constitution, but if the Kurdish brothers insist on their stubbornness, this means they want to go with the hardest option, which is confrontation.”
Al-Abadi demanded that the Kurdistan Regional Government annul the referendum result, and called for joint administration of Kirkuk. Baghdad has closed Iraqi Kurdistan’s airspace to international flights.
Turkey and Iran have threatened punitive measures against the Kurdish region, fearing the encouragement of separatist sentiment among their own Kurdish populations.
Iraqi VP sees danger of ‘civil war’ over Kirkuk
Iraqi VP sees danger of ‘civil war’ over Kirkuk
US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan
- Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, also expresses concern over the drone attack
WASHINGTON: The US has condemned a drone attack by Rapid Support Forces on an aid convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan state that killed one person and injured three others.
“The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others,” US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos wrote on X.
“Destroying food intended for people in need and killing humanitarian workers is sickening,” the US envoy wrote.
“The Trump Administration has zero tolerance for this destruction of life and of U.S.-funded assistance; we demand accountability and extend our condolences to all those affected by these inexcusable events and terrible war,” he added.
The Sudan Doctors Network said the convoy was struck by RSF drones in the Allah Karim area as it headed toward displaced people in El-Obeid, the state capital, Anadolu Agency reported.
The network described the attack as a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” warning that it undermines efforts to deliver life-saving aid to civilians amid worsening humanitarian conditions across the country.
There was no immediate comment from the rebel group.
The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others. This follows an attack earlier this week in Blue Nile state that injured a @WFP staff member.…
— U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs (@US_SrAdvisorAF) February 6, 2026
Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, in a statement also expressed concern over the drone attack which hit the aid trucks in North Kordofan.
“I am deeply concerned by a drone attack earlier today on trucks contracted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in North Kordofan, the aftermath of which I came across a few hours later, as I left the state capital, El Obeid.”
“The trucks were en route from Kosti to deliver life-saving food assistance to displaced families near El Obeid when they were struck, tragically killing at least one individual and injuring many more. The trucks caught fire, destroying food commodities intended for life-saving humanitarian response.”
Brown added that “Humanitarian personnel, assets and supplies must be protected at all times. Attacks on aid operations undermine efforts to reach people facing hunger and displacement.”
“Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access remains critical to ensure assistance reaches the most vulnerable people across Sudan.”
Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary forces has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and which the UN has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
An alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed famine conditions in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometers to the east.
The IPC said that 20 more areas in Sudan’s Darfur and neighboring Kordofan were at risk of famine.
Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.
The conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.
