Iraqi government forces said on Wednesday that they had achieved their objectives in a lightning 48-hour operation against Kurdish forces in disputed territory outside the autonomous Kurdish region.

On Monday and Tuesday, Iraqi troops and allied militia retook the northern province of Kirkuk and its lucrative oil fields, as well as formerly Kurdish-held areas of Nineveh and Diyala provinces, in a punishing riposte to a Kurdish vote for independence last month.

"Security has been restored in sectors of Kirkuk. Forces have been redeployed and have retaken control of Khanaqin and Jalawla in Diyala province, as well as Makhmur, Bashiqa, Mosul dam, Sinjar and other areas in the Nineveh plains," the federal government's Joint Operations Command said.

Source: AFP