Gunmen attack Gorran Movement HQ in Iraq’s Sulaimaniyah

By Idris Okuducu

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AA) – Gunmen attacked the headquarters of the Gorran Movement in Iraq’s northern city of Sulaimaniyah on Saturday.

The attack came shortly after the movement complained about alleged vote violations during Iraq’s first parliamentary election since the defeat of the Daesh terrorist group last year.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Gorran Movement's KNN television claimed that the attack was perpetrated by gunmen affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The movement claimed that the electronic voting system had been hacked during Saturday’s polls.

Kurdistan Democratic Party member Hemin Hawrami, also claimed on Twitter, that there were violations during electronic voting in Sulaimaniyah and demanded votes be counted manually.

Nearly all parties except PUK cited violations during election in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)-held areas.

According to the Iraqi election commission, around 10.8 million Iraqis out of 24 million eligible voters took part in the parliamentary elections, with a turnout of 44.52 percent.

The polls were held under the shadow of economic crisis, the return of thousands of refugees, political polarization, and security concerns.