Protests against Turkey in Iraq's northern Kurdish region turned violent on Sunday, with three police officers wounded.

Hundreds of protesters gathered Sunday outside the United Nations compound in the northern city of Irbil calling for an end to Turkish airstrikes against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Syria and southern Turkey. Local media reported that three police were wounded.

Turkey began launching airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in July 2015 as part of the U.S.-led coalition's fight against the Islamic State group. But Turkey's main focus has been its fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency fighting for Kurdish autonomy.