Kirkuk tensions threaten Iraq

Kirkuk is a city in northern Iraq in which Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmens have lived together for decades and is a region that all the groups lay a historical claim to.

Following the US-led invasion and the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003, waves of Kurds and Turkmens have moved to Kirkuk – many of whom sought to reinhabit the region they saw as their own.

Tensions are now escalating among the groups ahead of Iraq’s national elections in March.

The International Crisis Group says there’s a growing conflict in the oil-rich region that has the potential of “tearing up Iraq”. 

Al Jazeera’s Josh Rushing reports on Kirkuk’s fault lines.