ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A 14-year-old boy was reportedly killed Sunday following continued clashes between Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi militiamen in the town of Khurmatu in Diyala province 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Kirkuk.
According to witnesses who spoke to Rudaw inside Khurmatu, “the young boy was killed by a Hashd al-Shaabi sniper.”
Negotiations to end the violence in the disputed territory are underway between Kurdish and Shiite factions, but Shiite militias continue arresting civilians, according to the town’s Kurdish administration.
Many shops are closed and districts are empty, according to security sources inside Khurmatu. During the last four days at least seven Kurdish civilians were killed, some 20 injured and seven others arrested by the Shiite militia.
"Sixty-nine Kurdish people were taken captive by the Hashd al-Shaabi, 59 of them are rescued so far and 10 are still left," Khurmatu Mayor Shalal Abdul told Rudaw on Sunday.
A Kurdish official told Rudaw Sunday that the Hashd al-Shaabi had arrived in the town of Saadia with heavy weapons and intended to enter by force the Kurdish-controlled town of Jalawla.
Jalawla and Saadia, together with Khurmatu, are located in Diyala province and have been heavily disputed areas between Kurdish and pro-central government Shiite forces even as both factions are fighting the Islamic State.
Fighting broke out on Friday when a militia convoy allegedly refused to stop at a checkpoint manned by Kurdish forces, resulting in a firefight that left three Peshmerga and two Shiite militiamen dead.
On Friday controversial Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on Kurdistan region President Masoud Barzani, Iraqi President Fuad Masum and Shiite militia leader Hadi al-Amiri to work towards ending the conflict between the Peshmerga and Hashd al-Shaabi in Diyala.
