Tension does not abate in Kirkuk… Soldiers were sent

Iraqi security forces were deployed to the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk to avoid confusion after the death toll rose to 4 in inter-ethnic conflict in Iraq over the weekend.

Four protesters were shot dead on Saturday during clashes that broke out in Kirkuk after days of tension. Police and health sources stated that the 4 people who died were Kurdish.

Speaking to reporters, Kirkuk police spokesman Amir Shwani said the curfew was lifted yesterday and vehicles were driving as normal in the city. Shwani added that security forces are deploying soldiers on the streets to “prevent violence and protect civilians.”

SUSPENDED PLAN

At the center of the dispute is the use by the Iraqi army of a building in Kirkuk, which used to be the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), as a base since 2017. Iraq’s federal Supreme Court has issued an interim decision which obliges the government to delay the procedures for the transfer of the Kirkuk building to the KDP.

According to the court decision, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani’s order to hand over the building to the KDP on September 1, as part of his tenure as commander of the Iraqi Armed Forces, was suspended. .

Iraqi Kurdish regional government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani described the federal court’s decision as “nonsense” in his post on social media platform X. (Reuters)