Protest erupts in Iraq’s Kirkuk after 4 demonstrators shot dead

KIRKUK, Iraq

Protests erupted Monday in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk after four demonstrators were shot dead and 15 others were wounded in weekend.

The demonstrators demanded that those responsible for the deaths be apprehended and brought to justice.

The crowd said that if their demands were not met, they would organize larger protests.

Shortly after the start of the protest, a large number of police and security forces were deployed to the area.

The crowd later dispersed peacefully.

The stationing of Peshmerga forces affiliated with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) began at military bases in Kirkuk that had been abandoned by the Iraqi army after the emergence of the Daesh/ISIS terrorist organization in 2014.

The Peshmerga effectively took control of the city for three years.

Following an "independence referendum" held by the KRG on Sept. 25, 2017 and an attempt to annex Kirkuk, forces loyal to the central government entered the city on Oct. 16, 2017, putting an end to the presence of Peshmerga forces in the city.

The Iraqi army vacated the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) building and turned it into the Kirkuk Operations Command headquarters.

Protests erupted on Aug. 25 this year, with Kurdish demonstrators calling for the building to be handed over to the KDP and blocking the Erbil-Kirkuk road.

Arab residents and minority groups oppose the move.

Clashes broke out between both sides in front of the headquarters, with four protesters shot dead. A curfew was then imposed in the city.

*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul