Four killed in protests in Iraq’s Kurdistan

At least four people, including a 14-year-old boy, have been killed in unrest that erupted during a demonstration by civil servants over unpaid salaries in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Officials and witnesses said Saturday that two of the deaths had been caused a day earlier when security forces opened fire on protesters in the town of Qala Diza, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) north of the city of Sulaimaniyah.

The unrest happened after protesters reportedly changed their pre-determined course to head to the local headquarters of Kurdistan’s main political party, the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Witnesses said that security forces then opened fire when the protesters intensified their stone-throwing at the buildings that house the KDP’s headquarters.

A 14-year-old boy and a 30-year-old teacher were killed in the incident; health officials in Qala Diza said 18 more people were injured.

Some protesters said the bullets came from the KDP building while the party’s local officials denied the accusations.

Hamid Qaladizei, a member of the KDP branch in the city, said the demonstration had been orchestrated by opposition groups.

“There are people behind these protesters who are provoking them. The number of police is insufficient to protect us and control the situation,” Qaladizei said.

Reports said that the angry demonstrators torched two KDP buildings.

Political parties in other towns and cities across Kurdistan tightened security around their headquarters out of fear that they may be targeted by rivals.

Meanwhile, guards also gunned down two demonstrators in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Kalar on Saturday as protesters tried to storm the local headquarters of the regional president's party, a hospital spokesman said.

"Two protesters have died of bullet wounds. One was 19 and the other 40," the official said.

Qala Diza, Kalar and other towns in Sulaimaniya Province have seen similar protests by unpaid civil servants in recent months. The region is mostly dominated by parties that are opposed to KDP and its leader, regional President Masoud Barzani.

The protests have intensified since Barzani’s mandate ended in August without a deal being reached for a potential successor.

The Kurdish region is also facing a threatening budget crisis since early 2014, when the central government in Baghdad reduced funds to the area. An unprecedented drop in the price of oil is also to blame for the regional government’s decreasing finances.

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