Kurdistan refinery protests spark deadly violence

ERBIL - Protests by unemployed truck drivers near the capital of the Kurdistan region have escalated into a crisis of civil unrest, including a fatal shooting, temporary civilian displacement, and security threats against two major oil refineries.

The conflict was sparked on Nov. 27 in the village of Lajan, 20 kilometers west of Erbil, where residents staged a roadblock protest calling for jobs at the nearby Lanaz refinery, which has a processing capacity of about 80,000 barrels per day (bpd). On Nov. 29, a second protest turned into a violent conflict with security forces in which at least one person was shot dead, according to multiple eyewitnesses. That confrontation escalated into a sustained firefight in Lajan between residents and security forces in which several people were reportedly injured.