SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Region Presidency on Saturday condemned an attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on the Peshmerga forces in Amedi district.
Five members of the Peshmerga forces were killed and seven others were wounded in a “PKK ambush” in Amedi district early on Saturday, according to the Peshmerga ministry.
“We reiterate that a boundary should be set for the PKK acts against the Kurdistan Region,” the Region’s presidency said in a statement. “They have caused continued misery for people and prevents reconstruction and return of life to hundreds of villages in Kurdistan.”
“They have continuously caused problems and do not respect the administration and law of the Kurdistan Region, and always put our nation’s security and stability at risk,” it added.
The Region’s presidency also warned the PKK of “not causing tensions and conflicts anymore” and called on the group to keep its fighters away from the Kurdistan Region’s borders and respect its administration and borders.
The ministry of Peshmerga said the PKK fighters had used light and heavy weapons in the attack.
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the attack, urging the parliament and political parties to speak in a “single voice” against it.
The KRG also said in a tweet that the PKK fighters “ambushed and attacked” a unit of the Peshmerga forces on Mount Metina in Amedi district, northeast of Duhok.
“The KRG and the Ministry of Peshmerga have previously warned against the violation of the integrity and security of the Kurdistan Region borders to prevent such incidents,” the KRG tweeted.
“We will not, nor will our allies, tolerate threats to the Kurdistan region’s security and stability,” it added.
PKK-affiliated media reported that the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had transferred forces and military equipment to Metina region from Amedi at dawn on Saturday.
The People’s Defense Forces (HPG), the PKK military wing, said it had no information how the Peshmerga vehicle was attacked.
“After KDP forces entered our forces’ camp in Metina region, our forces fired into the sky to warn them, but none of them listened to the warning and continued movement,” the group said.
“After that how they were attacked and who attacked them is unclear because it is not being cleared yet, whether it was a mine exploded or it was an airstrike,” it added.
Earlier on Saturday, the HPG called on the KDP to “not stab the guerrillas in the back”.
“The force wants to go to our area in Metina, while we defend [it] against Turkey, which wants to invade Kurdistan,” the group said in a statement.
