Over 92% of Iraq's Kurds vote for independence

More than 92% of voters in Iraqi Kurdistan have opted for independence, according to election monitors, in an overwhelming endorsement of a proposed split from Baghdad.

The result came after Iraq’s parliament authorised the prime minister, Haidar al-Abadi, to send troops into areas disputed between Arabs and Kurds that were contentiously included in the ballot.

Euphoria on the streets of Erbil in recent days has been met with sharply increasing tension in the region, which is likely to escalate in the wake of the result.