 As various battles between separatist Kurds and Iraqi government forces continued until the 1991 uprisings in Iraq, the safety of Kurdish refugees led to the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 which was used as a justification to implement Operation Provide Comfort, a US-led multinational military operation that ensured the security of the Iraqi Kurdish region through the use of air power while simultaneously providing humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing persecution.While the no-fly zone covered Dahuk and Erbil, it left out Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk.This led to a further series of bloody clashes between Iraqi government forces and Kurdish troops.