Disagreements between the autonomous Kurdish region and Baghdad have been a source of major tensions in recent years. The 2005 constitution stipulated that Iraqi Kurdistan, which has an identity distinct from Iraq, is a federal entity recognised by Iraq and the United Nations, and the 2010 Erbil agreement with Baghdad outlined how power would be shared. But the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has protested their lack of implementation, and relations with Baghdad have been highly acrimonious. Oil has been at the centre of the dispute, with Baghdad furious that Erbil signed production-sharing agreements with international oil companies (IOCs) without its say-so, and Kurdistan wanting to export oil independently rather than through the central State Organisation for the Marketing of Oil (Somo). The Kurds accused former prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki of assuming too many powers, and have threatened to hold a referendum on independence. The appointment of Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has led to some improvement in the Baghdad/Erbil relationship. But the advance of the Islamic State (IS, or Daesh) jihadist group has been a major security and financial challenge for the Kurds. More than 1,000 members of the regional Peshmerga force have been killed, and the region is struggling to cope with a massive influx of refugees from the Iraqi and Syrian conflicts.
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