Baghdad, Sep 3 (IANS) Iraq has declared a curfew in the ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq after clashes involving Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, who also leads the Iraqi armed forces, on Saturday ordered the curfew in Kirkuk province and initiated search operations in the areas that had witnessed riots, Xinhua news agency reported. The KDP is a Kurdish political party close to Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani. Saad al-Baiyati, an officer from Kirkuk provincial police, told Xinhua that the two sides clashed in front of the KDP's former headquarters, prompting the security forces to intervene to stop the riots. However, gunshots, suspected to have been fired from the Kurdish side, led to security forces responding with gunfire, resulting in the death of one Kurdish protester and the injury of another, according to al-Baiyati.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 03, 2023 02:25 UTC