People in Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan are voting in an independence referendum, amid rising tensions and international opposition, Al Jazeera reports,
Polls opened at 05:00 GMT with balloting also taking place in the disputed areas between the northern city of Erbil and the capital Baghdad, as well as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, which is ethnically mixed.
In a televised address on Sunday, Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned of the dire consequences of the vote and vowed to never accept the disintegration of Iraq.