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Protesters end demonstration in Iraq's Kirkuk after multiple casualties

Decision to hand over army building to regional KDP is postponed after violent protests in multi-ethnic northern city leave at least three people dead and 16 wounded, officials say.

AA

Last week, protests broke out in Kirkuk against a government decision to hand over the building to the KDP, which argues that the building was previously used by them and it should be given back to the party. / Photo: AA

At least three people have been killed and 16 others wounded during protests in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, as authorities imposed a curfew after days of tensions.

Two people were shot in the chest and a third in the head, Ziad Khalaf, director of the local health authority, told the AFP news agency.

The victims were a 21-year-old man and two people aged 37, he added.

Those wounded, including Kurds, Arabs and three members of the security forces, were hit by gunfire, stones or glass, said Khalaf.

Following this, local authorities declared a curfew in the city in a statement, while Kirkuk police called on local residents to return to their homes.

Earlier in the day, police had been deployed to act as a buffer and keep apart the rival groups.

Protesters end demonstration in Iraq's Kirkuk after multiple casualties

Kirkuk-Erbil highway

Supporters of the KDP party staged a demonstration in Kirkuk to demand the reopening of the Kirkuk-Erbil highway.

The highway was closed by Arab tribes and Turkmens who oppose the handover of the Joint Operations Command building to the KDP.

Protesters blocked some roads by burning tires with police firing warning shots, according to witnesses. Ambulances were dispatched to the area.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani ordered his security forces to launch an operation against protesters in the city.

Last week, protests broke out in Kirkuk against a government decision to hand over the building to the KDP, which argues that the building was previously used by them and it should be given back to the party.

Early on Sunday, a local governor Rakan Saeed al Jabouri said in a statement on Facebook that the issue of transferring the building to the KDP was postponed as a result of his telephone call with prime minister.

Al Jabouri said he met protesters in front of the building and told them about Al Sudani 's postponement order, whereupon the protesters decided to pack up their tents, end their protest and open the blocked road.

Peshmerga forces of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) were deployed to bases evacuated by the Iraqi army in Kirkuk following the emergence of the Daesh terrorist group in 2014.

In 2017, Iraqi government forces entered Kirkuk, ending the Peshmerga presence in the city.