GARMIYAN - Kurdish Peshmerga forces fought with jihadi militants in northern Iraq, as Iraqi troops also upped their fight to turn the tide against a dangerous Sunni insurgency that threatens to widen the conflict and divide Iraq.
Kurdish forces said they pushed back fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as the militants launched a failed bid to widen their hold in the town of Jalawla in Diyala province, where they are in control of Tajnid, a major Arab neighborhood.
Peshmerga forces also were caught in the crossfire between Shiite militiamen and the Sunni fighters outside the village of Bashir south of Kirkuk on Sunday, in which two Kurdish soldiers and 14 of the militiamen were wounded.
Meanwhile the Iraqi military, which had largely folded when the militants captured Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul more than a fortnight ago and began a rapid territorial advance, claimed victory in the city of Tikrit after a large-scale offensive.
Those reports came as Baghdad confirmed that Russian aviators had arrived to help get five SU-25 jets that landed in Iraq late Saturday into the air against militants, with two more fighters expected later Sunday.
Iraq’s embattled Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has turned to Russia, Iran and Syria for help against a Sunni insurgency that could splinter Iraq, following Western reluctance to jump into a war that threatens to shift the map of the Middle East.
While the ISIS wants to carve out an Islamic state on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border, there are fears that Iraq could be divided into Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish portions, with implications for both neighboring Iran and Syria.
Jalawla was until recently part of the so-called “disputed territories” in northern Diyala province, but after the withdrawal of Iraqi troops earlier this month Kurdish forces moved in to protect the town’s majority Kurdish population.
Jalawla is the only place along Kurdistan’s border with Iraq where any major fighting has taken place between the Peshmerga and ISIS.
Meanwhile, Ali Muhammad Shaswar, head of Garmiyan security department, said that a bomb went off in the center of Jalawla on Saturday, but there were no casualties.
“We suspect that the ISIS was behind this blast, to spread fear among the town residents,” said Shaswar.
Tajnid is home to 2,000 families. Before the outbreak of recent hostilities, it was under the control of the Iraqi army.
“We do not really mean to take that part of the city,” said a Peshmerga commander, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Kurds are pursuing a policy of protecting Kurdish-populated areas, while staying out of Arab territories of Kirkuk, Nineveh and Diyala where they have moved in forces.
The ISIS is present in large numbers in Diyala, which is strategically important because of a long border with Shiite Iran.
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