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BAGHDAD/CAIRO, Sept. 20-- Tensions are flaring up as Iraqi Kurds are set to hold a controversial independence referendum next week, raising fears that it could open a Pandora's box of violence and conflicts. Amid signs of heightened tensions, a curfew was imposed Tuesday in the ethnically-mixed northern city of Kirkuk, after one was killed and three others wounded when Turkmen security guards exchanged gunfire with some Kurds celebrating the upcoming vote. The shooting came after a suicide car bombing that rocked Kirkuk on Saturday, in which three people were killed and nine others wounded. On Monday, Iraq's Supreme Court issued a verdict to suspend the referendum in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region slated for Sept. 25, in response to the Kurdistan Parliament's vote on Friday to approve holding the referendum as scheduled. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who dismissed the referendum as unconstitutional, has warned that Baghdad is ready to use force if the referendum turns violent. A new conflict will not only hinder Iraq's plan for reconciliation and reconstruction at a time when the war-torn country is near achieving full victory in defeating the terror group Islamic State (IS), but also sow new seeds of violence and instability in the already chaotic Middle East. MAJOR REASONS BEHIND IRAQI KURDS' PUSH FOR INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM Iraqi Kurds have a century-long dream of creating a Kurdish state in areas they control, which now have expanded to include many oil-rich areas that Kurdish fighters took over from IS militants over the past years. | 
