Shafaq News- Kirkuk

One person was killed and three others were wounded in a gunfight over a land dispute in the multi-ethnic northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk early Thursday, a security source told Shafaq News.

The source said a group of people arrived from Chamchamal, in Iraqi Kurdistan, and confronted the owner of the disputed property in Benja Ali area. The dispute escalated into an exchange of gunfire, killing 60-year-old Qader Marouf and wounding his brother, a police officer who owns the land, as well as a man from the opposing group and a mediator who intervened in an attempt to contain the confrontation.

Security forces cordoned off the area, launched a manhunt for the suspects who fled the scene, and opened an investigation into the incident.

Kirkuk, home to Kurdish, Arab, Turkmen, and Christian communities, remains one of Iraq's disputed territories under Article 140 of the Constitution, which set out a process to determine whether the province should remain under federal authority or join the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The process has remained unresolved since its 2007 deadline.

Read more: Discover Iraq: Kirkuk, a city of oil, culture, and conflict