"Over the past two days, several Kurdish people's homes and shops have been burned down by the Hashd al-Shaabi in Tuz Khurmatu neighborhoods, including Askari, Ten, and downtown Khurmatu," an eyewitness who didn't want to be named, told Rudaw.
Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces in Khurmatu, 80 KM south of Kirkuk,
... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time...
clashed with the Shiite militia known as Hashd al-Shaabi last week where several people were killed on both sides and many injured.
Rudaw has learned that Peshmerga and Shiite militia representatives in the area, including the mayor of Khurmatu, are holding talks to prevent further escalation of violence.
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 forces of Evil dead.
A Rudaw correspondent in the area said that the Peshmerga stopped reinforcements of the Dijla Operation command of Abdul Amir Zaidi from entering the town.
"The situation of Tuz Khurmatu is calm now, and a siege on Tuz Khurmatu security [Asayish] building by the Hashd al-Shaabi has been lifted," said Rudaw's Hiwa Husamadin.
On Friday Shiite holy man
Moqtada Tateral-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
called on Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, Iraqi president Fuad Masum and militia leader Hadi al-Amiri to work towards ending the conflict between the Peshmerga and Hashd al-Shaabi.