Iraqi Kurdish military officials and the Iraqi central government are currently trying to defuse an armed confrontation over a disputed northern territory,

Kurdish military officials said the forces of Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister, acted unconstitutionally when they entered the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

The two sides must now finalise a deal on how to deploy a joint armed force into the area, which is claimed by both the Kurdish government and Iraq.

Al Jazeera’s Omar al-Saleh reports from Kirkuk.