Elsewhere in Iraq, armed forces have killed four Iraqis demonstrating against the country’s drastic increase in oil prices. It is unclear if the demonstrators were killed by US or Iraqi forces. The shootings occurred in the northern village of Rahinawa, near Kirkuk. An unidentified relative of one of the dead said: “They killed my brother. I was standing in the streets about 10 metres away from him and they wouldn’t let me go near his body. They dragged him out of his car with other residents and they were treating them like they weren’t human beings.”

Outrage has erupted across the country as Iraq has seen a five-fold increase in oil prices in recent weeks. The increase is attributed to the elimination of Iraq’s oil subsidies, as required by a debt relief deal Iraq’s interim government signed with the International Monetary Fund.