Shafaq News- Kirkuk
One person was killed and threeothers were wounded in a gunfight over a land dispute in the multi-ethnicnorthern Iraqi province of Kirkuk early Thursday, a security source told ShafaqNews.
The source said a group of peoplearrived from Chamchamal, in Iraqi Kurdistan, and confronted the owner of thedisputed property in Benja Ali area. The dispute escalated into an exchange ofgunfire, killing 60-year-old Qader Marouf and wounding his brother, a policeofficer who owns the land, as well as a man from the opposing group and amediator who intervened in an attempt to contain the confrontation.
Security forces cordoned off thearea, launched a manhunt for the suspects who fled the scene, and opened aninvestigation into the incident.
Kirkuk, home to Kurdish, Arab,Turkmen, and Christian communities, remains one of Iraq's disputed territoriesunder Article 140 of the Constitution, which set out a process to determinewhether the province should remain under federal authority or join theKurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The process has remained unresolved sinceits 2007 deadline.
: Discover Iraq: Kirkuk, a city of oil, culture, and conflict
