Following deadly protests in Kirkuk, authorities have implemented a curfew in the multi-ethnic northern Iraqi city. The clashes erupted after days of tension, resulting in three protesters killed and more than a dozen injured, DW reports.
The conflict centers around a building in Kirkuk that was formerly the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) but has been used by the Iraqi army since 2017. The central government intends to return the building to the KDP as a goodwill gesture, but Arab and Turkmen opponents have set up a protest camp in front of it.
The violence began when a group of Kurdish demonstrators approached the protest camp on September 2, leading to warning shots being fired to disperse them. Security forces were deployed to keep the rival groups apart. Investigations are underway to determine the circumstances of the deaths and who opened fire. The Iraqi Prime Minister has ordered a curfew in Kirkuk and extensive security operations in affected areas.
Kirkuk has long been a disputed territory between the federal government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region. In 2014, the KDP and the peshmerga controlled Kirkuk, but federal troops expelled them in 2017 after a failed referendum on Kurdish independence. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sudani, efforts have been made to improve relations between the government and the KDP, but protests have arisen from Arab residents and minority groups who claim they suffered under Kurdish rule.
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