Iraqi forces take disputed town Altun Kupri in Kirkuk province from Kurds

Iraqi federal forces alongside Iranian-backed militias seized Altun Kupri, a town at the center of brief clashes with Kurdish fighters, Iraq’s state TV reported Friday. Al-Iraqiyah TV said anti-terrorism forces, the federal police and the Popular Mobilization Front militias secured Altun Kupri and its surrounding areas as part of operations to push Kurdish forces back to the borders of their autonomous region, AP said. The claim could not be immediately verified. The town is in Kirkuk province, just across the border from the country’s Kurdish region.