BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces stormed a Sunni Muslim anti-government protest camp near Kirkuk on Tuesday, triggering a exchange of gunfire between troops and demonstrators that left some casualties, local officials and hospital sources said.
"We still have no idea about the casualties, it is still a confused situation. But there are casualties,.. and the raid is already over," Deputy Governor for Kirkuk Rakan Saeid told Reuters after the clashes in nearby Hawija town.
Both demonstrators and local officials gave conflicting accounts of the number of possible casualties.
Thousands of Sunni Muslims have protested weekly since December in several Iraqi provinces to demand an end to perceived marginalisation of their sect by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government. (Reuters)
