Turkmen Front supporters block Erbil-Kirkuk highway over Kurdish appointment
Kurdish, Iraqi forces kill 'three terrorist' in Kirkuk
Erbil, Baghdad edge toward oil export deal despite oil volume dispute: Sources
Baghdad hotel venue for Arab Summit hit by fire
Nearly 400 gazelles go missing in Diyala province reserve
A+ A-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Supporters of the Iraqi Turkmen Front on Monday stormed the municipality building in Prde (Altun Kupri), a disputed town in Kirkuk province, in protest of the appointment of a Kurdish woman as its new head.
Some protesters, reportedly armed, broke windows and doors before security forces dispersed them. Others set fires and temporarily blocked the main Erbil-Kirkuk highway as demonstrations escalated throughout the day.
The newly appointed municipality director is a Kurdish woman from the city.
The demonstrators demand that one of three key positions in the town - municipality director, subdistrict administrator, or police chief - be assigned to a Turkmen representative. Protesters told Rudaw they would continue demonstrations until one of these posts is granted.
In addition to Turkmen Front supporters, Turkmen members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) and cadres from the Badr Organization joined the protest, according to Rudaw's reporter. Among them was Ahmad Ramzi, a member of Kirkuk's provincial council representing the Turkmen Front.
The Turkmen Front has reportedly been divided over how to respond to recent administrative appointments in disputed areas, with a rift between its former head Hassan Turan - who resigned in April - and Arshad al-Salihi, the current head in the Iraqi parliament and Turan's predecessor before 2021.
The party is particularly active in politics in the disputed city of Kirkuk, repeatedly claiming that the city belongs to the Turkmen people.
Hiwa Hussamadin contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Shafaq News
3 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Iraq captures top ISIS operative south of Baghdad
Shafaq News – Baghdad Iraqi security forces arrested a senior ISIS operative south of Baghdad, a security source confirmed on Wednesday. The source told Shafaq News that the detainee, tasked with overseeing financial stipends in the group's Diyala 'province,' was captured under judicial orders and transferred for interrogation. Since early 2025, Iraqi forces have intensified joint operations against ISIS remnants, killing at least 75 militants and detaining more than 50. Data compiled by Shafaq News from security and official reports shows raids concentrated across nine provinces, with Kirkuk recording the highest activity, followed by Saladin, al-Anbar, Diyala, Baghdad, Maysan, Nineveh, and al-Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region.
Shafaq News
6 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Iraqi MPs campaign gathers 120+ signatures to advance PMF Law
Shafaq News – Baghdad More than 120 Iraqi lawmakers are pushing to advance the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Authority Law by collecting signatures to place it on the agenda of upcoming parliamentary sessions, an Iraqi MP revealed on Wednesday. Independent MP Hussein al-Saabri told Shafaq News that First Deputy Speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi has affirmed the session will be held soon, noting strong parliamentary determination to pass the law during the current term. 'If it is not approved now, there will be no real opportunity to pass it in future terms,' al-Saabri stressed, adding that adopting the law would honor the sacrifices of PMF fighters who battled ISIS and ensure the group's transformation into a formal institution governed by binding legislation, similar to other security agencies. Earlier, MP Ibtisam al-Hilali of the Shiite Coordination Framework confirmed that more than 100 lawmakers had already endorsed a request for an extraordinary session to vote on the PMF Authority Law. The Coordination Framework is pressing for its passage, while Kurdish and Sunni blocs have resisted, linking their positions to unresolved disputes over budgets, oil revenues, and border crossings. US officials have voiced strong opposition, describing the bill as a tool to institutionalize Iran-aligned factions.
Rudaw Net
8 hours ago
- Rudaw Net
Kurdistan Region's forests nearly halved by fires over 60 years: Official
Also in Kurdistan KRG halts flights to Saudi Arabia as Umrah pilgrims remain stranded Erbil court hands Duhok journalist new prison sentence Plastic waste accounts for over a quarter of the Kurdistan Region's trash, experts warn Halabja declares two days of mourning after wildfires claim two lives A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nearly half of the Kurdistan Region's forests have been lost over the past several decades, an environment official said Wednesday, as civil defense teams struggle to contain recent blazes that have destroyed thousands of dunams of woodland. 'We have lost nearly 50 percent of our forests in the last 50 to 60 years,' Sanan Abdullah, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region's Board of Environmental Protection and Improvement, told Rudaw. He attributed the loss to 'political, military, and social reasons,' as well as rising temperatures as climate change takes its toll on the region. In June 2024, Turkey intensified its decades-long war against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), particularly in northern Duhok province. The conflict sparked numerous fires that burned swathes of land and endangered the lives of villagers. However, amid the ongoing peace process, military attacks in the area have decreased by 97 percent, according to US-based Human Rights Watch and local conflict monitors, resulting in significantly fewer fires compared to last summer. Leftover landmines from the Turkey-PKK conflict and earlier battles between the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the former Iraqi regime have also contributed to the fires. According to Abdullah, the Region had nearly 5 million dunams of forest land in the 1950s. From 2009 to 2022 alone, nearly 1 million dunams were lost. 'This accounts for the loss of a historical sum of our forests,' he said. A dunam equals 2,500 square meters. 'The [fires] have a significant long-term effect on the area. The growth of a forest takes many years of work… But fires cause them a lot of damage, and require [around] 50 years until a forest is revitalized,' Abdullah explained. He urged the use of modern technologies to help mitigate wildfires. 'We must protect the forests,' he said. On Tuesday, Halabja declared two days of mourning for two people - a civilian and a member of the Kurdistan Region's forestry police - who died while trying to extinguish a wildfire that has burned for a third consecutive day in the province. The blaze destroyed large parts of dense, mountainous forest in hard-to-reach areas. An official from Halabja on Tuesday told Rudaw that uncleared mines have made it more difficult to contain the fire. Wildfires in Sulaimani province in late June scorched hundreds of dunams of land, destroyed centuries-old trees, and caused widespread environmental damage. Officials and residents warned at the time that limited resources and difficult terrain were hampering firefighting efforts. Wildfires are a recurring problem in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, particularly during the summer months when extreme heat significantly increases the risk.
