ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The office of Shakhawan Abdullah, a prominent Kurdish politician and the second deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, was attacked in the disputed city of Kirkuk on Monday. No casualties were reported and the assailants fled, the official said. “Our office this morning was subjected to an armed attack by unidentified persons … the office guards were clashed with and responded and hit the vehicle, but unfortunately the gunmen managed to escape,” Abdullah, who is from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), said in a Facebook statement. It is not the first time Abdullah’s Kirkuk office has been attacked. In January of last year, his office was attacked by grenades less than a month after he was elected as the second deputy speaker of parliament. “We call on the competent security authorities to conduct an urgent investigation to uncover the perpetrators and pursue them wherever they are and bring them to justice,” Abdullah said, adding that such attacks will not deter him from carrying out political activities in the city. Kirkuk is a multiethnic city home to Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Assyrians. The city was under joint administration before 2014 when Kurds took complete control after Iraqi forces withdrew in the face of a brazen offensive by the Islamic State (ISIS) group threatening the city. Kurds held Kirkuk until October 16, 2017, when Iraqi forces retook control and expelled Kurdish security forces following the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum. While other Kurdish political parties remain active in Kirkuk, the KDP refused to return, saying the city was “occupied” by Shiite militias.
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