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| Kerry Arrives in Kurdish Region of Iraq | Kerry Arrives in Kurdish Region of Iraq |
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| ERBIL, Iraq — Secretary of State John Kerry arrived on Tuesday morning in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, as he continued his efforts to speed the establishment of a multisectarian government in the country. | ERBIL, Iraq — Secretary of State John Kerry arrived on Tuesday morning in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, as he continued his efforts to speed the establishment of a multisectarian government in the country. |
| Mr. Kerry was scheduled to meet with Masoud Barzani, the president of the region, and with other Kurdish leaders before leaving for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. | |
| It was Mr. Kerry’s first trip here as secretary of state and follows meetings in Baghdad on Monday with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and with Shiite and Sunni politicians. | It was Mr. Kerry’s first trip here as secretary of state and follows meetings in Baghdad on Monday with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and with Shiite and Sunni politicians. |
| The Kurds are a critical element of the political equation in Iraq. Mr. Barzani has had a difficult relationship with Mr. Maliki, a Shiite whom the Kurds have long accused of having authoritarian tendencies. | The Kurds are a critical element of the political equation in Iraq. Mr. Barzani has had a difficult relationship with Mr. Maliki, a Shiite whom the Kurds have long accused of having authoritarian tendencies. |
| The recent military victory for the Kurds in Kirkuk, a city to which Arabs and Kurds both have historical claims, after the recent offensive by militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has posed problems for any potential coalition between Sunni and Kurdish parties. | The recent military victory for the Kurds in Kirkuk, a city to which Arabs and Kurds both have historical claims, after the recent offensive by militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has posed problems for any potential coalition between Sunni and Kurdish parties. |
| Mr. Barzani, the Kurdish president, underscored the enormous challenge Mr. Kerry is confronting as he pushes Iraq’s leaders to establish a new broad-based government. | |
| “We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq,” Mr. Barzani said at the start of his meeting here with Mr. Kerry. | |
| In Qaim, near the border with Syria, at least one military aircraft attacked the insurgent-controlled town Tuesday morning, according to local officials. | |
| Local medical staff said ordnance had struck a market and a nearby building, killing at least 22 people and wounding 49. The officials said the strikes were carried out by the Syrian Air Force, although their account could not be immediately confirmed. | |
| The Syrian side of the border has long been under the control of various rebel groups. | |
| The Iraqi border crossing was captured this past weekend by ISIS fighters. With the help of Sunni tribes and using weapons captured from the Syrian and Iraqi militaries, including many weapons provided by the United States, the insurgents have been driving Iraqi government forces from Sunni-dominated areas in Iraq’s west. | |
| Elsewhere in Iraq, Sunni militants ringing the sprawling oil refinery in Baiji again claimed to have overrun the complex and taken control. | |
| An Iraqi officer defending the refinery, reached by telephone, said the claim was false. He said that the militants had advanced deeper into the complex but that the battle had not ended. | An Iraqi officer defending the refinery, reached by telephone, said the claim was false. He said that the militants had advanced deeper into the complex but that the battle had not ended. |
| “Everything is still under control,” said the officer, Brig. Gen. Arras Abdul Qadir. “The militants took over the towers around the external fence, but they lost a lot of people doing it.” | “Everything is still under control,” said the officer, Brig. Gen. Arras Abdul Qadir. “The militants took over the towers around the external fence, but they lost a lot of people doing it.” |
| The refinery has been besieged ever since ISIS militants swept across sections of northern Iraq earlier this month, and the insurgents have previously claimed to have captured it. | The refinery has been besieged ever since ISIS militants swept across sections of northern Iraq earlier this month, and the insurgents have previously claimed to have captured it. |
| The militants have extensive experience laying siege to isolated government outposts in Syria, and they have sustained battles for weeks and even months in the past. Their tactics have typically included cutting off roads and harassing aircraft that attempt to resupply marooned garrisons, while staging intermittent attacks to penetrate and gradually overpower the defenders inside. | The militants have extensive experience laying siege to isolated government outposts in Syria, and they have sustained battles for weeks and even months in the past. Their tactics have typically included cutting off roads and harassing aircraft that attempt to resupply marooned garrisons, while staging intermittent attacks to penetrate and gradually overpower the defenders inside. |