BAGHDAD, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq have imposed a curfew in northeastern city of Kirkuk in an effort to quell ethnic fighting.
The curfew, introduced on Saturday at 11 p.m. local time (8 p.m. GMT) and lifted at 6 a.m. Sunday, was aimed at preventing further clashes between the Arabs, Kurds and Turks that inhabit the oil-rich city.
The curfew will remain in effect until further notice.
Internal clashes erupted last week in Kirkuk after thousands of Kurds took to the streets demanding the city be merged with Kurdistan in northern Iraq, controlled by two major Kurdish parties since 1991.
The Arabs and Turks responded to the Kurdish demonstration with a similar protest rejecting the Kurdish demand, ending up in armed clashes that killed three Arabs and Turks and injured ten others.
A day later, two Kurds were found dead with stab wounds.
Kirkuk has been tense ever since as shops closed and life came to a practical standstill for fear of further ethnic clashes.
