Militants kill Kurds in disputed Nineveh

Baghdad: Iraq's Kurdish-Arab tensions in the disputed Nineveh province may create a human rights catastrophe for minority groups that have faced rising attacks since the 2003 US invasion, a rights group said on Tuesday.

Baghdad's Arab-led government and ethnic Kurds controlling a semi-autonomous northern enclave are battling over issues of wealth and power as the nation tries to thrash out tricky constitutional issues after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussain.

Violence in the world's 11th largest crude producer has fallen over the last two years, but bombings and other attacks are still common.