Kirkuk, an ethnically diverse Iraqi city, has lifted its curfew following violent clashes at rival protests, resulting in three deaths.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani imposed the curfew on Saturday evening after protests between Kurdish residents and Turkmen and Arabs turned deadly.
Tensions had been brewing for nearly a week in Kirkuk, a northern city with a historical dispute between the federal government in Baghdad and authorities in the autonomous Kurdistan region.
The curfew has now been lifted, with General Kawa Gharib, Kirkuk’s police chief, confirming that the situation is stable throughout the city. Sudani has called for a commission of inquiry into the incident.
During Saturday’s violence, four Kurds were killed, and 15 people were wounded, according to the latest toll issued Sunday by Amer Shuani, the local police spokesman.
Health officials confirmed that at least three of the four victims were shot dead, but the responsible party remained unclear.
Security forces had been deployed as a buffer to keep rival groups apart, and an AFP correspondent reported that they had to fire warning shots to disperse the Kurds.
The Arab and Turkmen demonstrators had staged a sit-in near the headquarters of the Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk province on August 28, following media reports that Sudani had ordered the site to be handed over to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which had previously occupied it.
The building in Kirkuk had served as the KDP’s headquarters in the past, but it has been used as a base by the Iraqi army since 2017.
