Death toll of Kirkuk clashes rises to 4 as transfer of police headquarters to Kurdish party halted

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

BAGHDAD (AP) — The death toll from clashes that broke out in the disputed city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq has risen to four. Meanwhile, the country’s top court issued an order halting the planned handover of the Iraqi federal police headquarters in Kirkuk to the Kurdish Democratic Party, which had sparked tensions in the city which is home to a mixed population of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen. Federal forces seized Kirkuk and the surrounding oil fields in October 2017 after Kurdish regional authorities organized a referendum for Kurdish independence. The KDP vacated its headquarters in the city at the time.