On October 22nd, two Iraqi soldiers and two Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were killed during a violent attack in a northern mountainous area between both sides. The Iraqi and Kurdish security reported this. The Iraqi Prime Minister and the commander-in-chief of armed forces, Mohammed al-Sudani ordered a high-level investigation into the violent matter. This is very important to both parties involved because violence between the two groups has not occurred since 2017.

This was caused when Iraqi government forces issued a surprise attack in retaliation to gain an independent referendum, which the Kurdish Regional Government organized. This recent attack occurred on Sunday because the Peshmerga fighters were a part of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which is the ruling party in the Iraqi Kurdish Region. The fighters were attempting to regain their positions, which they had previously evacuated near Makhmour on Saturday. This regaining of positions caused the clash between the two groups, which lasted for around two hours when both group’s leaders sought to relieve the tensions. Before this clash, the Iraqi army and Peshmerga fighters reported that two Iraqi soldiers and one Peshmerga fighter were killed. There have been minor updates on the resolution to this violence. However, the Iraqi Army still has control over the mountainous region and those positions the Peshmerga fighters had attempted to regain control of.

Rasheed, Ahmed. “Four Killed in Clashes between Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga, Security Sources Say.” Edited by John Stonestreet and Josie Kao, Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 22 Oct. 2023, www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/two-killed-clashes-between-iraqi-army-kurdish-peshmerga-security-sources-2023-10-22/.