Kurdish officials said on Thursday thousands of their people had fled the Kirkuk region fearing persecution since Iraqi armed forces retook it following a referendum on Kurdish independence that was rejected by Baghdad.
The officials said roughly 100,000 people had gone, though that number could not be confirmed independently, and many Kurdish neighborhhoods in Kirkuk city appeared to be operating normally.
The United Nations voiced concern at reports that civilians, mainly Kurds, were being driven out of parts of northern Iraq retaken by Iraqi forces and their houses and businesses looted and destroyed, and urged Baghdad to stop any such abuses.