Kurds emerge as winners in Iraq chaos

By DIAA HADIDEMAD MATTI

Published June 20, 2014 12:36pm ET

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Kurds emerge as winners in Iraq chaos — Kurdish security forces prepare combat positions while a Kurdish flag flies outside the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, June 19, 2014. As Sunni insurgents swept over a large chunk of northern Iraq and barreled toward Baghdad the past two weeks, Kurdish fighters known as peshmerga seized territory of their own, effectively expanding the Kurdish-run region into areas it has long claimed for itself. Most notably, they grabbed the oil center of Kirkuk. And in contrast to the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, which is in turmoil, the Kurds are growing more confident, vowing to increase oil sales independent of the central government. (AP Photo) | STR

MULA ABDULA, Iraq (AP) — Among rolling wheat fields with machine-gun fire rattling in the distance, Kurdish fighters patrol the new frontier of their autonomous region of northern Iraq, dozens of miles from their official border. In front of them are Islamic militants, behind them is the Kurds’ newly captured prize, stretches of oil-rich territory.

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Iraq World