Iraqi Kurd officials on Sunday denied any PKK forces were present in the disputed oil province of Kirkuk though one said that sympathisers of the party were.

"There are no PKK forces in Kirkuk, but there are some volunteers who sympathise with the PKK," Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, said General Jabar Yawer, secretary general of the peshmerga ministry.

Another official in the ministry also denied their presence, after Baghdad earlier said they were in the province, which it said amounted to a "declaration of war".

source: AFP