Protests intensify in Sulaymaniyah over unpaid salaries

Protests have intensified in the city of Sulaymaniyah against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over unpaid salaries.

Protesters, including members of Peshmerga, the paramilitary brigade of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, blocked the main road outside their base in the city on Tuesday.

“It's four months since we received our salaries,” one of the protesters said, “Frankly the Peshmerga can no longer put up with this.”

Facing a global slump in oil prices, the KRG has been unable to pay the salaries of its workers since September 2015. Officials said last week that they would only pay part of the salaries until the fiscal situation is improved. However, the new announcement, which came as part of a series of austerity measures, would not cover the workers of the region’s interior ministry and the Peshmerga forces.

“This government has lost its legitimacy. They must make way for other people,” another protester said.

Meanwhile, other towns in the region also saw peaceful demonstrations with civil servants gathering outside KRG offices in Koya, Halabja and Chemchemal.

Peshmerga has been an influential force in Iraq’s ongoing fight against the Takfiri Daesh terrorists since the group took over parts of the country in the summer of 2014. Many warn that the KRG’s inability in paying the salaries of Peshmerga fighters would increase defections from the brigade. The KRG has urged foreign powers for financial assistance.

Baghdad slashed funds to the KRG when the Kurds decided to independently export oil through a pipeline they built to Turkey.

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