According to latest reports from the ground, 4 Kurdish youngsters were killed and 15 people were injured as a result of Iraqi security forces’ attack on residents protesting in Kirkuk.
Kurdish citizens in Kirkuk took to the streets on Saturday in protest at the closure of Kirkuk-Hewler road by Salafi Sunni groups and the Turkmen Front, an ally of the KDP in Kirkuk, in an attempt to incite chaos in the city.
The demonstrators demanding the opening of the road to traffic were attacked by Iraqi security forces firing live ammunition to disperse the crowd.
According to latest reports from the ground, four Kurdish young men, identified as Hawkar Ebdullah, Hisên Sabîr, Heval Star and Hawrê Ekber, lost their lives and 15 others were injured as a result.
In the wake of the incidents, the Prime Minister’s Office declared a curfew in the city where all the streets were closed off. The curfew ended this morning.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is expected to meet with parliamentarians from Kirkuk today to discuss the latest developments.
In the meantime, dozens of Kurds who were said to have taken part in the protests in Kirkuk were taken into custody on Sunday.
The trigger for the road blockade is the planned return of a building to the KDP. The building is the former headquarters of the Barzani party in Kirkuk. Since the Kurdistan Region of Iraq lost around 40 percent of its territory to Baghdad - including Kirkuk, in the wake of the independence referendum carried out by KDP leader Massoud Barzani in 2017, the building has been used by the Joint Operations Command of the Iraqi Armed Forces.
Last week, PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered the return of the building to the KDP. However, Hashd al-Shaabi supporters are resisting this with a protest camp in front of the building and a road blockade.
