Kirkuk declares curfew after Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum

KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - The governorate of Kirkuk declared an overnight curfew in the Iraqi oil city as tension simmered following a referendum on independence organized by the local Kurdish authorities but rejected by the central government in Baghdad.

The curfew was announced in statement from the Kurdish-led governorate of the northern Iraqi city.
Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani’s decision to include Kirkuk in a referendum on independence from Iraq was widely seen by the Arab and Turkmen communities as a move to consolidate Kurdish control over the multi-ethnic city.


(Reporting by Raya Jalabi; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)