Shafaq News – Najaf

Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM) leader Muqtada Al-Sadr on Monday called on Iraqi authorities to punish those who fuel ethnic tensions in Kirkuk, stressing that Arabs and Kurds are “brothers.”

In remarks addressing recent developments in the highly diverse province home to Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Arabs, and Turkmen, Al-Sadr rejected attempts to inflame ethnic sentiment, warning that such behavior must be addressed through the law.

Al-Sadr referred to the deployment of Iraqi forces, allegedly to prevent the re-hoisting of the Kurdistan Region’s flag on a Peshmerga monument, as well as the arrest of Kurdish citizens accused of attempting to remove the Iraqi flag and raise the Kurdish banner.

Tensions escalated on Friday following a deadly security incident near a church in the Arafa area of northern Kirkuk, where Colonel Zaid Adel Sabeeh, from Iraq’s Christian community, was killed in an armed attack, according to medical and security sources. Authorities later arrested a suspect in connection with the killing.