Tensions are escalating between ethnic groups in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where additional South Korean troops are scheduled to be dispatched some time next month.

Sources said Wednesday that the Kirkuk police had extended the existing curfew as conflict continued to deepen between Kurds and Turkmen in the city.

On Wednesday, dozens of angry Kurds ransacked the offices of the Iraqi Turkmen Front political party in Kirkuk, breaking windows and destroying property for the second time in four days.

An official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan denied any Kurdish involvement in the raid while accusing Turkmen of threatening the stability of Kirkuk.