Baghdad has been fighting Kurdish forces in northern Iraq since a disputed independence referendum on September 25. Operations have been halted after the US incorrectly said both sides had agreed to a ceasefire.
According to al-Abadi, the pause will allow representatives from both sides "to work on deploying federal forces in all of the disputed zones," a reference to areas of northern Iraq both sides have claimed.
Iraqi forces began operations against Kurdish forces on October 16 to retake control of the oil-rich Kirkuk province as part of a broader effort of reinstituting Baghdad's control over non-Kurdish territories in northern Iraq.
The KRG had included Kirkuk in a disputed independence referendum on September 25, in which 93 percent of voters opted for secession from Baghdad.
In an effort to defuse tensions, the KRG offered to "freeze" the results of the independence referendum on Wednesday.
But both sides have clashed since then, with fighting reportedly taking place on Thursday near the northern city of Mosul.
Meanwhile, Iraq has also been fighting the last IS fighters in the west of the country. On Thursday, troops started operations to retake the western towns of al-Qaim and Rawa in Anbar province from the jihadi militants.
amp/kms (AFP, Reuters, AP)
Kirkuk: Who's fighting in Iraq's Kurdish-controlled province?
From Shiite militias to Turkey's outlawed PKK, armed groups are fighting for power in Iraqi Kurdistan's oil-rich province of Kirkuk. DW examines who's who in the dispute as tensions rise in the Middle East nation.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca
Battle for Kirkuk
Only a few shots were fired, but Iraq's decision to send in armed forces into the Kurdish-controlled province of Kirkuk and bring it back into the fold has heightened tensions in the Middle East nation. Who's on who's side? And where is the territorial dispute going? DW takes a look at the actors and their motives.
Image: Reuters/Stringer
Iraq's army
In 2014, Kurdish forces went into Kirkuk to fill in the void left behind after Iraq's army collapsed from the "Islamic State's" military campaign. But three years later, the Iraqi military has been rebuilt and ridden a wave of victories against the notorious militant group. They're the main instrument of hard power for the Iraqi government as Baghdad fights for control of the oil-rich province.
Image: Reuters/Stringer
Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilization Units
Even during the liberation of Mosul, the Iraqi army was backed by the Popular Mobilization Units – an alliance of mostly Shiite militias. The Popular Mobilization Units joined the Iraqi army when it advanced on Kurdish-controlled positions in and around the city of Kirkuk. Kurdish politicians have lashed at the units, saying they're serving Iran's goal to destabilize the region.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Al-Rubaye
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is one of the main opposition political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan. Since the first Gulf War, the PUK has jointly administered Iraqi Kurdistan with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Both the PUK and KDP have their own peshmerga forces. In Kirkuk, PUK peshmerga fled the city, leaving it virtually unopposed to Iraqi forces.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/H. Baban
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani is the ruling political party in Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament. Despite warnings from the central government, it was the KDP's Barzani who vowed to move forward on the independence referendum, infuriating Baghdad. KDP peshmerga fighters – like the PUK fighters – fled Kirkuk when Iraqi forces advanced on the city.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/B. Janssen
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was born in the 1970s out of an ambitious dream to create a Marxist-Leninist state in the Middle East to be called Kurdistan. In the 1980s, the group launched a bloody insurgency against the state of Turkey. While considered unwelcome in Iraq, the PKK has links with Iraq's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) – and likely appeared in Kirkuk to back them.
