Kirkuk to deploy speed radars in bid to cut traffic deaths

KIRKUK — Iraq’s Interior Ministry has signed a contract with a German company to supply speed detection radars, with devices to be installed on the Kirkuk ring road and the highway to Tikrit, officials announced Saturday.

Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al-Shammari said the step is part of a broader push to reduce traffic accidents, which remain a leading public safety issue across the country. “There was concern about traffic accidents on the ring road and the Tikrit road,” Al-Shammari said at a press conference in Kirkuk. “We instructed the General Directorate of Traffic to allocate a number of radars to monitor speed on these roads, under the new contract with the German company.”

He said the plan also covers strengthening civil defense, establishing new police stations, and improving traffic enforcement. “All procedures are carried out by the security forces with high accuracy,” Al-Shammari added, noting that cooperation between Kirkuk’s local authorities and police leadership is key to tackling internal security and public safety.

The announcement came shortly before a crash on Sept. 13 killed four people and injured five on Al-Hawli road in Kirkuk. The Kirkuk–Tikrit–Baghdad highway is among Iraq’s busiest, carrying heavy cargo and passenger traffic daily, and police say it is notorious for fatal accidents caused by speeding, poor infrastructure, and reckless driving.

Traffic accidents claimed 2,719 lives nationwide in 2024, according to a Ministry of Planning report in June, down 10% from 2023 but still among Iraq’s highest causes of death. Officials recorded 11,763 incidents outside the Kurdistan Region, including 2,103 fatal crashes, with men making up 82% of fatalities. Injuries totaled 11,896, a 3.4% decline from the previous year.