“The protestors blocked the road from Piramagrun to Sulaimani both yesterday and today,” Shamal Muhammad, a local from the town, told Rudaw English, saying security forces pushed back. “Today, they changed their route and attacked the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and burnt it down, and they are now trying to do the same with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office, but KDP forces are fighting back.”
Mass protests by civil servants and their supporters erupted in the city of Sulaimani on Wednesday over months-long unpaid salaries. The demonstrations have ended in the city after the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons by police forces, who were deployed in large numbers to the area, but protests have spread to other parts of the province as of Saturday.
KDP officials in Piramagrun confirmed the eyewitness account.
“We are now stuck inside the office and are surrounded by protestors trying to attack the office with stones and molotov cocktails,” Sherwan Agha, head of the town’s KDP office, told Rudaw English. “We have to fight back, therefore, we have shot into the skies, hoping to force protestors to retreat, but they are not stopping.”
“The protestors have been shooting at us since 5:20 pm,” he claimed.
One police officer has been injured as a result of the clashes, local sources told Horvan Rafaat, Rudaw’s reporter in Piramagrun.
“Rudaw’s team were prevented [by protestors] from getting close to the protests,” Rafaat said speaking to Rudaw’s Shaho Amin, while the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.
Piramagrun mayor Sirwan Sarhad was unavailable for comment.
The KRG has failed to pay its civil servants on time or in full for months. Kurdish officials have openly said they cannot pay civil servants without money from the federal government.
Protests in the city of Sulaimani centred around the grievances of teachers and other civil society workers, who have not received their salaries for October and November after Baghdad refused to send the Kurdistan Region its budget share upon the recent passing of a controversial fiscal deficit bill. Funds for several prior months in 2020 have also not been sent to the KRG after a prolonged oil-for-budget dispute.
A consensus has reportedly been reached between Baghdad and Erbil regarding the Region’s allocation of the 2021, according to a statement from the premier’s office. No information has been released regarding progress in securing the withheld parts of the 2020 budget. Negotiations continue and no final agreement has been reached.
The Kurdistan Region’s ruling parties met on Sunday to discuss methods of securing the salaries of civil servants, discussed the receiving of loans to settle the unpaid salaries, while talks in Baghdad continue. They agreed to a to a three-sided meeting with leadership from the Gorran Movement on Tuesday to further discuss the economic problems facing the region, and decide on a united stance for Kurdistan Region representatives to take in Baghdad.
