SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The U.S. Embassy to Iraq on Sunday condemned an attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) against “our brave Peshmerga partners”.
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 condemn in the strongest terms the deadly PKK attack yesterday against our brave Peshmerga partners,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement.
“We stand with our friends in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and reaffirm our commitment to working together to bring security to the region,” it added.
The ministry of Peshmerga said the PKK fighters had used light and heavy weapons in the attack.
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.
The Iraqi military has launched an investigation into the attack, adding that “every aggressor against the blood and security of Iraqis will receive a fair punishment”, said Yehia Rasool, spokesperson for commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces.
“We condemn the cowardly terrorist attack against an Iraqi military unit within the Peshmerga forces on the way to Mount Metina in Dohuk Governorate at the hands of non-Iraqi armed groups,” Rasool added.
The Iraqi defense ministry also said any attack on the Peshmerga forces, who are an integral part of the Iraqi armed forces, is “unacceptable”.
