Reaffirming support to the incumbent government in Iraq, Pakistan has said that the recently held referendum in the oil-rich country’s Kurdistan region “lacks legitimacy”.“The referendum violates the Iraqi constitution and therefore lacks any legitimacy,” Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. “It also presents a challenge to peace and security of Iraq and the entire region.”The communiqué said Pakistan fully supports Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.“It is therefore deeply concerned over the referendum held in the Iraqi Kurdistan region on 25 September 2017.”Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani had announced last week that Kurds had voted “yes” to independence in the referendum held in defiance of the government in Baghdad.Pakistan, the statement added, joins Iraq and its neighbours, along with the international community, in its opposition to this referendum.The Kurds have ruled over an autonomous region within Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.Iraq considers the vote unconstitutional, especially as it was held not only within the Kurdish region itself but also on disputed territory held by Kurds elsewhere in northern Iraq.Similarly, the United States, major European countries and neighbours Turkey and Iran strongly opposed the decision to hold the referendum, which they described as destabilising at a time when all sides are still fighting against Islamic State militants.