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03-09-2023
BAGHDAD/ KIRKUK: A curfew has been imposed in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk after rival demonstrations by Kurdish and Arab residents descended into deadly violence, according to officials.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the curfew in Kirkuk as well as “extensive security operations in the areas affected by the riots”, according to a statement from his office on Saturday.
He called on all parties to “play their part in preventing strife and preserving security, stability and order in Kirkuk Governorate”.
At least one civilian was killed and eight people were injured, a local official said but the circumstances surrounding the death were not immediately clear, the director of the local health authority, Ziad Khalaf, told media, adding that those injured had been hit by bullets, stones or glass.
He said a member of the security forces was among the injured.
Tensions have been brewing for nearly a week in Kirkuk, which has historically been disputed between the federal government in Baghdad and authorities in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north.
The frictions centre on the occupation of a building in Kirkuk that served as the headquarters for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the past but which the Iraqi army has used as a base since 2017.
The central government plans to return the building to the KDP in a show of goodwill but Arab and Turkmen opponents set up a camp outside the building to protest the handover last week.
The violence on Saturday was sparked when a group of Kurdish protesters approached the camp, according to officials.
The media reported that police deployed to the area fired warning shots to force the Kurdish demonstrators to disperse.
The media further reported vehicles on a main avenue were set on fire.
Masoud Barzani, a veteran Kurdish leader, accused “rioters” of blocking the highway from Kirkuk to Erbil, the Kurdish capital, with their sit-in.
He said this was “creating a tense and dangerous situation for residents”.
Barzani said it was “surprising” that security forces had not prevented “the chaos and illegal behaviour of those blocking the road”, while on Saturday, “violence was used against Kurdish youth and demonstrators”. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
