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Baghdad digs in against KRG referendum

As the KRG announced referendum results, Iraq's Parliament issued a bellicose directive calling on Abadi to march on Kirkuk and target Kurdistan's oil sector, borders, and airports.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi meets with local political and security officials in Kirkuk province's Taza sub-district on the day the operation to retake Mosul officially commenced, Oct. 17, 2016. (KAMARAN AL-NAJAR/Iraq Oil Report)

ERBIL - Lawmakers in Baghdad issued a 13-point directive Wednesday calling on Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to impose federal authority over ports of entry and disputed territory controlled by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), including oil fields in Kirkuk.

The Parliament session marks a further escalation of threats from Baghdad in response to Monday's non-binding referendum, in which 92.7 percent of participants in KRG-controlled territory voted in favor of an independent Kurdistan, according to Kurdistan's election authorities.

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