Clashes erupt in Iraqi city of Kirkuk over Kurdish vote

BAGHDAD – A Turkmen official says authorities in Iraq's ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk have imposed a nighttime curfew after clashes erupted between Kurds and Turkmen amid preparations for the controversial Kurdish independence referendum next week.

Mohammed Samaan Kanaan, in charge of Iraqi Turkmen Front offices, said on Tuesday that gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on one of the offices the previous night. The guards returned fire, killing one and wounding two of the assailants.

Kanaan says hours later, a police patrol that included the brother of the slain assailant attacked another office, triggering clashes. The fighting ended when a large ethnically mixed force reached the scene.