Peshmerga, Turkmen fighters clash briefly in N. Iraq

BAGHDAD

Arshad Salehi, head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, called on both sides to exert "self-control" Thursday following a brief clash earlier the same day between Turkmen forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in the Tuz Khormato district of Iraq’s north-central Saladin province.

Three Turkmen fighters -- who are currently fighting under the umbrella of Iraq’s Shia Al-Hashd al-Shaabi militia -- were killed Thursday when Kurdish Peshmerga opened fire on their vehicle as it passed through the district, Salehi said.

He suggested the incident may have been caused by a lack of coordination between local Turkmen forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, the latter of whom currently control Tuz Khormato.

Salehi went on to call for a "joint administration" in Tuz Khormato -- to include Kurds, Turkmen, Shia and Sunni Arabs -- with a view to averting such incidents in the future.