Military sources said at least two Kurdish officers were killed in a gun
battle with Iraq Army soldiers in Kirkuk, Middle East Newsline reported. The shootout
on April 25 marked the first lethal clash between Kurds and the Iraq Army in
2011.
"We have arrested four Iraqi soldiers and started an investigation to
find out what happened and who is responsible," Kirkuk police chief Maj.
Gen. Jamal Taher Bakr said.
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The confrontation erupted amid U.S.-led efforts to foster cooperation
between the Iraq Army and the Kurdish Peshmerga in Kirkuk, the oil capital
of northern Iraq. In 2010, the U.S. military oversaw joint patrols and
checkpoints around the city.
Both the Baghdad government and the autonomous Kurdish province have
claimed Kirkuk. Officials said the clash erupted when an Iraq Army patrol
was stopped by a Kurdish plainclothes officer near the headquarters of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party.
Under the 2010 agreement, police were responsible for security in
Kirkuk. Officials said officers of the Kurds, Iraq Army and U.S. military
were reviewing the clash.
"This cannot be considered a battle between the Iraq Army and security
forces in Kirkuk," Iraq Army 12th Division commander Gen. Samir Abdul Karim
said.
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