Kirkuk is a city in northern Iraq in which Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmens have lived together for decades and is a region that all the groups lay a historical claim to.<br /><br />Following the US-led invasion and the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003, waves of Kurds and Turkmens have moved to Kirkuk - many of whom sought to reinhabit the region they saw as their own.<br /><br />Tensions are now escalating among the groups ahead of Iraq's national elections in March.<br /><br />The International Crisis Group says there's a growing conflict in the oil-rich region that has the potential of "tearing up Iraq". <br /><br />Al Jazeera's Josh Rushing reports on Kirkuk's fault lines.<br /><br />[February 24, 2010]
