Footage captured smoke rising in the distance in the town of Altun Kupri, Kirkuk province, on Friday, as fighting continued between Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga. Altun Kupri, which lies north of Kirkuk city, is the only area of Kirkuk still under the control of the Kurdish Peshmerga.
Advances to retake the disputed area of Kirkuk from Kurdish control were ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the wake of the Kurdish independence referendum. The oil-rich region of Kirkuk is claimed by both Iraqi Kurds and Baghdad.