The rapid seizure of Kirkuk by Iraqi government forces appears to have demonstrated the weakness of the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG's) often-lauded Peshmerga military force. The multi-ethnic northern city of Kirkuk has been held by the Peshmerga since June 2014, when government forces collapsed in northern Iraq in the face of an offensive by Islamic State militants. The Peshmerga subsequently stopped further Islamic State advances and was provided with large quantities of weapons and training by the US-led coalition.
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