and since then, cyril, there have been some moves to try and get everyone to the negotiating table to try and start some dialogue. but baghdad had a precondition. they wanted the kurds to annul the results of the referendum. something that hasn t happened and tensions have been building. in the past few days the kurdistan regional government came out and warned saying that the iraqi security forces along with the shia, the iranian-backed shia militias were preparing to attack the city of kirkuk. in their words that was denied by so many iraqi officials. but overnight we have seen iraqi forces with starting they re calling this operation to secure kirkuk and moving in from different directions on the city with reports now they re claiming to have captured some sites. and as you mentioned some reports, some exchange of fire. unclear at this point the nature of that in the past few hours. jomana, i know it s a very fluid situation. do you think we could be looking
in syria, isis appears to be close to losing its de facto capital. u.s.-backed fighters say the terror group has been driven from 90% of raqqah. the syrian democratic forces say only a few hundred isis militants remain. there are reports some of the terrorists have surrendered, and others were allowed to evacuate. more fighting is expected in the days ahead. the u.s.-led coalition said it will try to protect civilians. and as isis seems to be collapsing in raqqah, tensions are brewing in neighboring iraq between two of its enemies. fighting has been report new year s day the kurdish controlled city near kirkuk. kurdish official says their troops were attacked with tanks but what exactly happened is unclear. we do know central government troups troops have been moving towards the city. a stand off in the oil-rich region intensified after a vote last month. the kurds have a said that they re ready to repel any attack by baghdad.
the u.s. is urging all sides to avoid escalating the situation. so for more on all of, this live from aman, jordan, where she is monitoring the situation. the central iraqi government has decided to use force in kirkuk. what do we know? well, cyril, it would seem that worst case scenario seems to be unfolding right now in northern iraq. those disputes, tensions between the kurds and the asia have been brewing for years and years. this is not something that happened overnight. now the biggest concern is that this is turning into ooh military confrontation. a spark of this latest crisis now is that controversial referendum on independence that the kurds, the kurdistan regional government went ahead with in late september, despite so much pressure from the international community, from the government in baghdad telling them not to go ahead with it. they did.
bathroom ban. we ll have more on that later this hour. we begin with what is going on in the middle east and the fallout from the usair strikes inside iraq and syria. joining me now, nbc news tehran bureau chief in the iranian capital and our pentagon correspondent. i do want to begin with you, courtney. bring us up to speed on what we learned about the air strikes. . who was targeted and what was the message that the u.s. is trying to send? so there were three strikes, three locations, one in iraq and two in syria. and they were targeting the iranian backed shia militia groups. you may remember one of the groups, december of 2019, kh as they re called around here was lobbying a bunch of rockets and firing rockets in iraq. one proved deadly. a u.s. contractor was killed near kirkuk. of that s when the u.s. took retaliation, struck a number of kh facilities and then, of
they re going to set up two joint operation centers. one is going to be located in baghdad. the other will be located in northern iraq, near kirkuk. and then other special forces will actually embed with the iraqi military. they will offer strategic advice. as you mentioned, mika brzezinski sat down with president obama on friday and here s a little bit of what he had to say to her. take a listen. some of the forces that have always, possibly, pulled iraq apart are stronger now. those forces that could keep the country united are weaker. it is ultimately going to be up to the iraqi leadership to try to pull the politics of the country back together again. reporter: and alex, i spent some time at the pentagon this week. officials there saying that the u.s. is pursuing a written agreement that would provide those special forces with