U.S. forces kill two during ethnic clashes in Iraq (Kurds and Turkmen)

TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug 23 (Reuters) - U.S. forces killed two Iraqis and wounded two others while intervening in clashes between Kurds and Turkmen in the ethnically divided northern Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk, an army spokeswoman said on Saturday.

The fighting marked a flare-up of tension around Kirkuk between Kurds and Turkmen, two minority groups at odds over their share of political power in a city that both say the deposed Iraqi government tried to drive them from in order to Arabise the site of Iraq's richest oil reserves.

Major Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry division, which is deployed in the area, said a U.S. patrol came under fire on Friday fighting between Kurds and Turkmen in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, outside of Kirkuk.

"They were fighting over a shrine that Turkmens rebuilt and had put up that had been banned under Saddam. It was destroyed ...and when the patrol showed up, the groups were fighting over it. Some Turkmen turned fire on the patrol, so we shot back," she said.

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