Kurdish Fears of Iraqi Advance to Recapture Crossing with Turkey

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz attends a meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Bilateral Coordination Council with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi in Riyadh. (AFP)
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz attends a meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Bilateral Coordination Council with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi in Riyadh. (AFP)
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Kurdish Fears of Iraqi Advance to Recapture Crossing with Turkey

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz attends a meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Bilateral Coordination Council with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi in Riyadh. (AFP)
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz attends a meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Bilateral Coordination Council with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi in Riyadh. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Baghdad on Monday evening in an unscheduled visit to meet with Iraqi President Fouad Massoud and Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, and to call on Baghdad and Irbil to solve their disputes through dialogue.

Tillerson’s visit came hours after Abadi’s office rebuked him for his comments on the withdrawal of “Iran’s militias” from Iraq.

A statement issued by the Iraqi government presidency said that in his opening remarks at the meeting with Tillerson, Abadi said that “the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) is an official institution and is part of the Iraqi state institutions.”

The Iraqi prime minister added that the PMF fighters should be encouraged because they will be the hope of the country and region.

AFP quoted a source at the Iraqi government as saying that Tillerson and Abadi discussed the “government measures taken to restore the authority of the federal government in Kirkuk, in addition to the political and security situation.”

On Sunday, Abadi and Tillerson had attended a meeting between Saudi and Iraqi leaders in Riyadh aimed at promoting strategic ties between the two countries and countering Iran's regional influence.

Meanwhile, security sources in the Kurdistan Region pointed out to Iraqi military mobilization and the deployment of tanks and artillery near an area controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, warning that they are aimed at recapturing the Khabur border crossing between Kurdistan and Turkey.

Reuters quoted on Monday security sources as saying that Iraqi forces are deploying tanks and artillery near a Kurdish-held area of northern Iraq where a section of a Kurdish oil export pipeline is located, as well as land crossings to Turkey and Syria.

“The buildup is taking place northwest of Mosul,” an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s security council said.

An Iraqi government security advisor said taking control of the land crossings was part of measures planned by Baghdad, Reuters reported.

On Tuesday, Abadi is expected to visit Ankara. Turkey’s Anadolu Agency quoted a prime ministry official as saying the Iraqi prime minister will meet his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim at Cankaya Palace.

The premiers would likely discuss ways to enhance cooperation in order to contribute to regional peace, stability and safety, the official, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, told Anadolu Agency.



UN: Lifelines Keeping People Alive in Gaza Are Collapsing

21 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners pray near the bodies of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes, according to medics, during the funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
21 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners pray near the bodies of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes, according to medics, during the funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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UN: Lifelines Keeping People Alive in Gaza Are Collapsing

21 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners pray near the bodies of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes, according to medics, during the funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
21 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Mourners pray near the bodies of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes, according to medics, during the funeral at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is appalled by an accelerating breakdown of humanitarian conditions in Gaza "where the last lifelines keeping people alive are collapsing," his spokesperson said on Monday.

"He deplores the growing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

"Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations."

Israeli ground troops for the first time Monday pushed into areas of a central Gaza city where several aid groups are based, in what appeared to be the latest effort to carve up the Palestinian territory with military corridors.

Deir al-Balah is the only Gaza city that has not seen major ground operations or suffered widespread devastation in 21 months of war, leading to speculation that the Hamas militant group holds large numbers of hostages there. The main group representing hostages’ families said it was “shocked and alarmed” by the incursion, which was confirmed by an Israeli military official, and demanded answers from Israeli leaders.

Israel says the seizure of territory in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages, but it is a major point of contention in ongoing ceasefire talks.

The UN food agency, meanwhile, accused Israeli forces of firing on a crowd of Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid over the weekend. Gaza's Health Ministry called it one of the deadliest attacks on aid-seekers in the war that has driven the territory to the brink of famine.