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The death toll has risen to four and 15 other people were wounded in Saturday's clashes between ethnic groups in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk that broke out after days of tensions, local media agency Rudaw reported Sunday citing Kirkuk police.
The clashes came as Arabs and Turkmens protested the planned return of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to its old headquarters in the city of Kirkuk, some 250 kilometers north of Baghdad, and clashed with Kurds at the site on Saturday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani later ordered a curfew in Kirkuk province and initiated search operations in the areas that riots occurred.
A bustling livestock market before Eid al-Adha in Kirkuk, Iraq, June 20, 2023. /CFP
According to local media, the two sides clashed in front of the KDP's former headquarters, prompting security forces to intervene to stop the riots. Exchanges of gunfire were also reported as the Kurdish side opened fire and police shot back.
In October 2017, former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi instructed government forces to enter Kirkuk province and reclaim authority over the disputed areas between the Baghdad government and the regional Kurdish government.
The move was taken in response to a controversial referendum held by the Kurds on the independence of the Kurdistan Region and the disputed areas.
The Kurds consider the northern Kirkuk province and parts of Nineveh, Diyala and Salahudin provinces as disputed areas and want them to be incorporated into their region, a move fiercely opposed by the Arabs and Turkmens as well as the central government.
(With input from agencies)
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Copyright © 2023 CGTN. 京ICP备16065310号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466