Iraqi Kurds have taken over two oil fields, Iraq’s oil ministry says, amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad, BBC News reported.

Kurdish peshmerga forces seized control of production facilities at Bai Hassan and the Kirkuk oil fields, in the north of Iraq, on Friday, July 11 the ministry adds.

Kurdish MPs have also withdrawn from Iraq’s central government.

They did so after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists.

Kurdish forces have moved into areas of north-western Iraq abandoned by the Iraqi army during the advance of Islamist insurgents led by the Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) group over the past month.

The Kurds have since declared plans to hold a referendum on independence in the areas seized, escalating tensions with Iraq’s central authorities.