Iraq has continued to deploy U.S. military equipment, including Humvees and Armored Personnel Carriers, to the Kurdistan Region over the last 48 hours, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Monday.
In a statement published on Monday afternoon, the Security Council said Iraqi troops and allied Popular Mobilization Units had continued to deploy tanks and artillery, including U.S. equipment.
“We are concerned about continued military build-up of Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces towards the Kurdistan Region … Iraq has shown zero signs of de-escalating their military aggression against the people of the Kurdistan Region.”
The statement did not identify where the troops and equipment were located, but last week Iraqi forces retook some disputed areas, including the city of Kirkuk.
It is the latest allegation in the fallout of the Kurdistan independence referendum held on September 25. Following the vote, Baghdad moved to retake oil-rich Kirkuk, which had been largely under Kurdish control since 2014.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has called on the international community to help resolve the situation. Earlier this month, the KRG representative in the U.S., Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, told reporters that countries that supported the Kurdish Peshmerga in the fight against Islamic State must intervene to prevent a war between Erbil and Baghdad.
Earlier Monday, the KRG’s public prosecutor requested an investigation into 11 Iraqi officials, including the leader of the PMU, also called Hashed al-Shaabi.