After days of tension, authorities placed a curfew on protesters in the multiethnic Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where at least three Kurds were murdered and 16 others were injured.
According to Ziad Khalaf, the local health authority’s director, three persons were shot: two in the head and two in the chest.
Casualties
He noted that the casualties were two 37-year-olds and a male who was 21 years old. According to Khalaf, those injured, who included Kurds, Arabs, and three security personnel, were struck by gunshots, stones, or glass. The curfew was implemented in the evening after opposing protests between Turkmen and Arabs and Kurdish locals turned violent in spite of the presence of security.
Police had been stationed in the northern city earlier in the day to serve as a barrier and keep the opposing factions apart.
To get the Kurdish protestors to disperse, warning bullets were fired. Vehicles on a major avenue were set on fire.
In addition to requesting an investigation commission into the event, Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani also promised that those guilty will be “held accountable” in a press release from his office.
Since the federal government in Baghdad and the authorities in the autonomous Kurdistan region have traditionally disagreed over Kirkuk, tensions have been building for almost a week.
After learning that Sudani had ordered the land to be given to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which had previously occupied it, protesters from the Arab and Turkmen communities in Kirkuk province launched a sit-in on Monday. Kurdish protesters tried to reach the headquarters on Saturday, an AFP correspondent said.
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“Dangerous circumstance”
Sudani imposed a curfew in Kirkuk following the unrest and directed “extensive security operations in the areas affected by the riots,” according to a statement from his office.
He urged everyone to “play their part in preventing strife and preserving security, stability, and order in Kirkuk Governorate”.
Security forces in the province were instructed by Sudani, who also serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, to “fulfill their responsibilities in maintaining security and upholding the rule of law.”
Arab and Turkmen protesters persisted in their sit-in outside the security facility late on Saturday.
Efforts to pacify the demonstrations
Local police head General Kawa Gharib was attempting to calm down Kurdish demonstrators in another area of the city. An area of northern Iraq that produces oil called Kirkuk was taken under control by the KDP and the peshmerga in 2014.
However, after an unsuccessful referendum on Kurdish independence, federal soldiers drove them out in the autumn of 2017. Despite a history of tense interactions, the Sudanese government has mostly succeeded in sustaining friendly ties between Baghdad and Arbil, the capital of the Kurds.
Veteran Kurdish official Massud Barzani charged “rioters” with obstructing the Kirkuk to Arbil route with their sit-in.
According to him, this was “creating a tense and dangerous situation for residents”.
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While on Saturday “violence was used against Kurdish youth and demonstrators,” Barzani claimed it was “surprising” that security officers had not stopped “the chaos and illegal behaviour of those blocking the road.”
The autonomous region’s prime minister, Masrour Barzani, urged Sudani in Baghdad to “intervene right away to bring this intolerable situation under control.”
As Kirkuk’s Kurdish inhabitants are being persecuted, he also pleaded with them to exercise moderation and avoid using violence.
