Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurds took over two oil fields in Baghdad amid a dispute with the government Friday. 

According to BBC News, Kurdish peshmerga forces captured production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oil fields in northern Iraq.

Kurdish MPs have also withdrawn from the government in response to controversial statements made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who leads the majority Shia government. 

The tensions reached a boiling point Wednesday when Maliki said the Kurdish capital of Irbil is harboring ISIS militants. 

Not long after, Kurdish officials, such as as a spokesman for Massoud Barzani, said Maliki had "become hysterical." Kurdish MPs then urged him to step down. 

Maliki also accused the Kurdish people of exploiting the current crisis to apply for statehood for a completely autonomous Kurdish region.  

The Kurdish political bloc then suspended government business after Maliki made the incendiary comments. 

The MPs boycotted meetings and stopped running their respective ministries. The ministries affected were the foreign ministry, the ministry of migration, the trade ministry, the health ministry and the deputy premiership, according to Al Jazeera English. 

Kurdish forces have moved into north-western Iraq to retake areas abandoned by the Iraqi army during battles with the jihadist militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which the military has been fighting for control of key cities in Iraq for a month. 

Reuters reports that a senior source at the Kurdistan Regional Government confirmed the takeover of the refineries.  

The source said that the Kurds had been "forced to act to protect Iraq's infrastructure after learning of attempts by Iraq oil ministry officials to sabotage it".

The Kurds have also declared that they want to hold a referendum vote for independence in the areas that were seized. The announcement of the referendum vote is increasing tensions with Iraqi officials. 

The Iraqi oil ministry condemned the seizure of the oil fields. The ministry said they expect the fighters to "support security forces in confronting terrorist groups rather than using the conditions to raid and occupy oil fields".

The oil fields reportedly have an output of around 400,000 barrels of oil per day. 

The Kurds, who are a minority in Iraq, established an autonomous region in northern Iraq in 2005 after decades of efforts to establish autonomous rule for Kurds in the region. 

Kurdistan Region Leader Massoud Barzani said the Kurds view independence as their right. 

The tensions with the Kurds comes at a very unfavorable time, as the country is already facing a wide-reaching Islamist insurgency. 

According to the BBC, a dispute between Kurds, Sunnis and Shias could lead to a three-way split in the country. 

The Iraqi government also called Kurdish diplomats at its U.K. embassy who were accused of partaking in a demonstration that actively called for the secession of Iraqi Kurdistan. 

The diplomats' case extends beyond the demonstration, as the ethnic and religious state of Iraq is under serious threat. 

Also, Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most revered religious Shia leader, called on Iraqi politicians to "close ranks" and stop what he called "radical discourse."