Kurdish parties clash in northern Iraq amid ballot rigging accusations

Two Kurdish political parties clashed in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya amid accusations of ballot rigging in elections held on Saturday, residents and officials said.

Gunfire broke out between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the party which historically controls the city, and the Movement for Change, known as Gorran, they said, reporting no casualties.

Earlier on Saturday, Gorran and three other Kurdish parties accused the PUK of electoral fraud.

PUK officials had said their party won most of the province’s seats in the Iraqi parliamentary elections even though no result was officially released.