Kirkuk announces 2014 casualty figures

by Samie Zubair

KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region – Some 734 people have been killed and 2,064 others wounded in Kirkuk as a result of violent clashes and bombings in the city, officials said Friday.

“Both the Kurdistan Region authorities and Iraqi health ministry have assisted in medical treatment of the victims,” said Sabah Muhammad, an official with the city’s health ministry at a press conference Friday.

He added that more than 500 of the victims were displaced people who had fled the Islamic State in the neighboring provinces of Nineveh and Anbar.

The report also said that 30 car bombs and 540 roadside mines had targeted the city in the last year. Nine car bombs and 276 roadside explosives had effectively been defused.

The report said 129 mid-range missiles had hit the city, 34 people were kidnapped and 54 bodies were also found in the city in the last year alone.

The oil rich-city with over a million population is among the “disputed territories” outlined in the Iraqi constitution and claimed by Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen.

Kurdish forces have been in charge of its security since 2003, when the former Iraqi army withdrew from the city.  Kirkuk is estimated to hold 10 percent of Iraq’s total oil reserves. It currently exports 300,000 barrels per day through Kurdish pipelines.