Two protesters killed in renewed unrest in Iraq’s Kurdistan region

Two protesters were shot dead on Tuesday in renewed demonstrations against Kurdish political parties in the northern, Kurdish-run region of Iraq, two local officials said.

The officials, including a health source, said one protester had been shot dead by guards of the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the town of Takya, west of the city of Sulaimaniya.

Another protester died after being shot in the neck when Kurdish security forces opened fire to disperse protesters in the town of Sied Sadiq, east of Sulaimaniya, said a health source and a local official who asked not to be identified.

Five people have now been killed and scores wounded in protests in the past 24 hours. Hospital sources and local officials said the death toll in demonstrations on Monday had risen to three.

Protests over unpaid salaries spread on Tuesday to at least six towns near Sulaimaniya, with angry crowds setting ablaze political parties’ headquarters and local government buildings.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets in and around Sulaimaniya for several days, demanding their salaries be paid and criticizing the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which controls the Sulaimaniya area.

The semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq has been hit by a nationwide economic crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Iraq’s oil revenues have sunk.