IRAQI Kurdish forces pulled back from the edge of oil-rich Kirkuk yesterday, accusing Iraq’s army of launching an operation to retake the disputed city.

Peshmerga Lieutenant General Wasta Rasul said his forces evacuated positions south-west of Kirkuk city while an officer in the Iraqi army said federal forces had moved into positions left by the Kurdish forces in the same area, near the village of Bashir.

The troop movements follow accusations by the Kurdistan Regional Government that Iraq has commenced operations to retake areas of Kirkuk and neighbouring Mosul province which are under the control of the peshmerga.