UPDATED: MP says 2 citizens killed, tens wounded in Tuz Khurmatu shelling
Three members of al-Hashd al-Shaabi were wounded in a bomb blast in Tuz Khurmatu.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Two people were killed and tens others were wounded on Monday when mortar rounds targeted the town of Tuz Khurmatu in Kirkuk, an Iraqi Turkmen parliamentarian said.
Jassem Mohamed Jaafar was quoted by Alsumaria News saying that “the missiles were launched by Kurdish gangs”, urging the government to send troops to the town to “curb those violations”.
Ali al-Husseini, a spokesperson of the PMF northern area, told Alghad Press earlier that the town became under mortar shelling from nearby mountain areas.
He said the missiles “all landed in the middle of the town, and caused damages and injuries among citizens”.
A week ago, Tuz Khurmatu’s mayor, told Alsumaria News that Rapid Response forces took over duties delegated to the Popular Mobilization Forces which have been maintaining security in Tuz Khurmatu jointly with local police and the Iraqi army”.
He said the exchange came “as mobilization forces concluded their assignments”.
A home to a mixed Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen population, Tuz Khurmatu was among the disputed regions Iraqi forces seized back from Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces following a referendum the autonomous region held in September to secede from Iraq.
Kurdish politicians have accused Iraqi forces, most notably the PMF, of carrying out forced deportations and inducing a demographic change in Tuz Khurmatu for the favor of Arab ethnicities.
In december, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said its teams had observed signs of possible violations in Tuz Khurmatu, including destroyed homes and businesses in several primarily Kurdish neighbourhoods after Iraqi forces’ takeover in October.