Iraqi forces are deploying tanks and artillery south of a Kurdish-held area of northern Iraq where a section of a Kurdish oil export pipeline is located, Reuters reported quoting security sources.

The buildup is taking place northwest of Mosul, an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) security council said by phone from the Kurdish capital, Erbil.

An Iraqi government security advisor said the Fish-Khabur area, northwest of Mosul, is the location of crossings into Turkey and Syria that Baghdad wants to bring under its control. But he declined to say if a military move was being prepared.