In his weekly address, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the autonomous Kurdish regional government in Erbil of hosting the headquarters of the Islamic Emirate.

The President of the Autonomous Iraq Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, retorted by calling Mr. al-Maliki "hysterical."

Since early June, the Islamic Emirate and the autonomous Kurdish government launched a planned [1] and jointly coordinated military operation. The Islamic Emirate conquered the Sunni part of Iraq and proclaimed it a Caliphate, while the autonomous Kurdish government conquered the Kurdish part of Iraq, thus increasing its territory by 40%, and announced the holding of a self-determination referendum.