Iraq: At least four killed, over a dozen injured after clashes between ethnic groups in Kirkuk

At least four people were killed and 15 others were injured after clashes erupted between ethnic groups in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk, reported news agency AFP citing officials, on Sunday (September 3). This comes a day after the clashes between Kurdish residents on one side and Turkmen and Arabs on the other were reported.

What do we know about the clashes?

The violence was preceded by reported week-long tensions between the two groups over a dispute that centres on a building in Kirkuk that was once the headquarters for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Iraqi army has used as a base since 2017.

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The building has also historically been disputed between the federal government in Baghdad and authorities in the autonomous Kurdistan region of the north.

Recently, the central government planned to return the building to the KDP in a show of goodwill but Arab and Turkmen opponents set up a camp outside the gate last week in protest.

According to the police, the violence sparked when a group of Kurdish protesters approached the camp on Saturday. This was after the local media reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had ordered the site to be handed over to the KDP.

Sudani has since called for a commission of inquiry into the incident. The Kirkuk police, as per Reuters said that people were injured after stones were thrown and metal bars used to attack.

On Sunday morning, General Jabbar Naeema al-Taee, Kirkuk’s top security official, told AFP that the building at the centre of the dispute was “under the control of the army” of Iraq and that the sit-in was over.

Death toll rises

At least four Kurds were killed and 15 others were injured due to the clashes, said Amer Shuani, the local police spokesman, on Sunday. Health officials said at least three out of the four victims were shot dead. Police and hospital sources had said earlier that one Kurdish protester was killed.

Police and security officials in the city said they are investigating the circumstances of the deaths, including who opened fire.

Curfew lifted

After the clashes, the Iraqi PM ordered a city-wide curfew to prevent an escalation of the violence and called on “political parties, social organizations, and community leaders to play their part in preventing strife and preserving security, stability, and order”.

On Sunday, General Kawa Gharib, the police chief in Kirkuk, told AFP that the curfew has since been lifted and that the “situation is now stable throughout the city.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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