100,000 Kurds flee Kirkuk since Iraqi army takeover -Kurdish officials
About 100,000 Kurds have fled the Kirkuk region for fear of persecution since Iraqi armed forces retook disputed territory after a Kurdish independence vote rejected by Baghdad, Kurdish officials said on Thursday.
The United Nations voiced concern at reports that civilians, mainly Kurds, were being driven out of parts of northern Iraq retaken by Iraqi forces and their houses and businesses looted and destroyed, and urged Baghdad to stop any such abuses.
In the first incident of deadly violence, a Kurdish man was killed and six wounded by Iraqi security forces while protesting at the army's takeover of their town, Khanaqin, by Iraqi forces, local Mayor Mohammed Mulla Hassan said.
Kurdish troops had left Khanaqin, near the border with Iran, on Tuesday to avoid clashing with advancing Iraqi forces.
