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Iraq has issued a curfew in Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed city in northern Iraq, following violence between Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmens.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, who also oversees the Iraqi armed forces, issued a curfew in Kirkuk province on Saturday and launched search operations in riot-hit regions, according to the Xinhua news agency.
According to an Iraqi armed forces statement, Al-Sudani emphasised that the security forces “must be firm in arresting anyone who dares to tamper with the security of Kirkuk, from any party, and not allow the carrying of weapons at all, except for the security services.”
On Saturday, Arabs and Turkmens protested the projected restoration of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to its old headquarters in the city of Kirkuk, nearly 250 km north of Baghdad, clashed with Kurds at the site. The KDP is a Kurdish political party close to Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani.
According to Saad al-Baiyati, an official with the Kirkuk provincial police, the two sides clashed in front of the KDP’s former headquarters, causing security personnel to intervene to quell the rioting.
According to al-Baiyati, gunshots fired from the Kurdish side prompted security forces to reply with gunfire, resulting in the death of one Kurdish demonstrator and the injuring of another.
Arabs and Turkmens have been protesting the KDP’s return for several days, including blocking streets, torching tires, and staging a sit-in outside the building to prevent the KDP from returning their offices.
The skirmishes are the latest in a series of clashes between Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmens in Kirkuk, a city in an oil-rich territory claimed by both the Kurdistan region and Baghdad’s central authority.
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi directed government soldiers to invade Kirkuk province and recover control of the disputed territories between the Baghdad government and the regional Kurdish government in October 2017.
The decision was made in response to the Kurds’ contentious referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region and the disputed areas.
The Kurds want to merge the northern Kirkuk province and sections of Nineveh, Diyala, and Salahudin provinces into their territory, a proposal strongly opposed by the Arabs, Turkmens, and the Central government.
Source:IANS
