A group of “rioters” have opened fire at fuel tanker trucks in the northern Iraqi governorate of Erbil, killing at least one person and wounding several others, Kurdish authorities said, days after a rocket attack on the region’s Khor Mor gas field.
In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency late on Saturday, the Ministry of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) linked the shooting to the Khor Mor attack.
The rocket attack hit a storage tank at the gas field, which is one of the region’s largest facilities, late on Wednesday, leading to production shutdown and extensive power cuts.
The ministry said the KRG sent liquid fuel to supply power plants following the Khor Mor attack, but that “a group of rioters blocked the road used by fuel tankers and civilians in Gwer, opening fire on passersby and travellers”.
The shooting “resulted in the death of one citizen and injuries to several others”, it said.
The ministry pledged action against the “riots”, saying “we will put an end to these acts of sabotage”.
The ministry statement followed an earlier report by the Iraqi News Agency in which it said there had been armed clashes between the Harkiya tribe and security forces in Erbil, near the village of Lajan on the Erbil-Gwer road.
The agency cited security forces as saying that the clashes, adjacent to the Lanaz Company refinery, had “resulted in fatalities and injuries”.