Tensions between KRG and Baghdad could fuel a proxy war between regional powers, analysts warn.

…The Kurdistan Regional Government has changed course, declaring its commitment to Baghdad to retreat from territory that Kurdish forces have taken from ISIL.

On November 16, Masoud Barzani, the president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, said in a press conference that his soldiers would not retreat from the land “liberated with their blood” from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant group, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

“There will be no negotiations about the territories liberated by Peshmerga before the Mosul offensive,” Barzani declared. “This is a new chapter. ISIS is on the path to defeat. Peshmerga shed their blood to free Kurdistan’s land and end the suffering of our people.”

But the Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, later retracted Barazani remarks, saying that his comments, originally made in Kurdish, were taken out of context and “mistranslated”.

Nevertheless, Barzani’s comments revived long-standing fears among many Iraqis that the country’s Kurds are using the Mosul battle to seize land to incorporate into a future independent state.

Arab-Kurd tensions simmer in shadow of Mosul campaign – News from Al Jazeera

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