Battle of Kirkuk (2017)

Battle of Kirkuk (2017)
Part of the 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
Map of the offensive
Date 15–20 October 2017 (5 days) Location Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq Result Decisive Iraqi government victory[6][7] Territorial changes Iraqi government retakes control of the entire Kirkuk Governorate, including the city of Kirkuk, Kirkuk Air Base, and Kirkuk Airport by 20 October[8][9][10]
Belligerents
Iraq	Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Workers' Party[1][2] (denied by KRG)[3] White Flags (alleged)[4][5]
Commanders and leaders
Haider al-Abadi (Commander-in-chief) Maj. Gen. Fadhil al-Barwari (ISOF commander)	Masoud Barzani Hiwa Chor
Units involved
Iraqi Army 9th Armoured Division[11] ISOF PMF Turkmen Brigades Iraqi Turkmen Front[12]	Peshmerga People's Defence Forces[1]
Strength
3,000 soldiers 200–300 armoured vehicles[13]	9,000 Peshmerga forces[11]
Casualties and losses
7 dead (Kirkuk hospital claim)[14] 150 killed or wounded and one tanks destroyed (Kurdish claim)[15]	25 killed, 45 wounded (hospital claim)[16] 105 killed 200 wounded 45 captured (PUK claim)[17]

The Battle of Kirkuk (2017), part of the 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, was a military deployment by the Iraqi Security Forces to retake Kirkuk Governorate from the Peshmerga after the latter ignored repeated warnings to withdraw,^[18] sparking clashes between the two forces.^[19] The advance began on 15 October 2017, with the city of Kirkuk being retaken the following day. Iraqi central government forces continued their advances in subsequent days, routing the Peshmerga forces across vast swathes of territory in northern Iraq.^[6]