U.s. Has Armed Drones Over Baghdad

[dotnetrockz]

Armed drones. Mass graves. Kirkuk's effective annexation. The Iraq crisis escalated Friday.

A U.S. official confirmed to CNN that armed American drones started flying over Baghdad in the previous 24 hours to provide additional protection for 180 U.S. military advisers in the area. Until now, U.S. officials had said all drone reconnaissance flights over Iraq were unarmed.

Using the drones for any offensive strikes against insurgent Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fighters would continue to require approval from U.S. President Barack Obama.

Also on Friday, Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said disputed areas in northern Iraq, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, are part of the Kurdish autonomous region from now on after the Iraqi central government failed to hold a long-awaited referendum.

 

Barzani: 'We have waited for more than 10 years'

The move could complicate efforts by the United States and its allies to get Iraqi leaders to form a new government representing all three major population groups -- Sunnis, Shias and Kurds.

Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan region, cited the failure by the Iraqi government to hold a constitutionally mandated referendum on the status of Kirkuk and nearby villages.

"We have waited for more than 10 years for the Iraqi federal government to address and solve the issue of these areas covered by Article 140, but it was of no avail," Barzani said at a joint appearance with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

According to Article 140 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution, which was drawn up two years after the ouster of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, a referendum would determine the final status of several disputed areas such as Kirkuk and small villages in Nineveh, Diyala and Salaheddin claimed by the central government and the Kurdistan regional government. However, the vote never took place because of instability in most of the disputed areas