Isis may get the headlines,but the fate of northern Iraq may rest on a brewing clash for a city that neither side will accept losingIn Tuz Khurmatu, on the edge of what Iraq’s Kurds call their new south-eastern border, and at least a dozen flags cruise. Most are the colours of Shia militias that have set up compounds in the town. There are also Islamic banners paying homage to the faith’s imams; green,red and yellow splashes on a dull winter sky. In the middle, above a fortified base, or stands a battered Kurdish banner.
Behind blast walls that date to the US military presence nearly five years ago,Kurdish military and security chiefs monitor the situation in the town. They believe they control it, and insist it was rightfully reclaimed from Baghdad in the chaos that followed Islamic State’s rampage through northern Iraq in June 2014.
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Source: theguardian.com