SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A senior official said another unit of the Peshmerga forces came under fire from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northeast of Erbil on Monday, the second such incident in this week.
Peshmerga’s Chief of Staff Jamal Emniki said a number of PKK fighters opened fire at a checkpoint of the Peshmerga forces between Khalifan and Bekhma areas in Erbil province.
“The Peshmerga forces responded to the gunshots, and according to initial information there is casualty,” Emniki said in a statement.
He did not say which side suffered casualties.
It was the second incident to occur this week. On Saturday, Emniki also said the PKK fighters opened fire at the Peshmerga forces on Mount Matin in Amedi district, northeast of Duhok.
In June, five members of the Peshmerga forces were killed and seven others were injured after their convoy was attacked on the mountain.
The convoy was hit either by a rocket or an improvised explosive device (IED) as it was heading toward a point on the mountain.
The ministry of Peshmerga said the PKK fighters “ambushed” a unit of the Peshmerga forces on Mount Matin in Amedi district, northeast of Duhok.
The PKK denied the accusations and called for investigations into the attack.
The People’s Defense Forces (HPG) said its fighters had fired into the air to warn the Kurdish forces but they had not used the weapon to destroy their vehicle.
“It is true that our forces had fired some bullets as warning, but certainly the weapon which destroyed the vehicle was not used by our forces,” the HPG said.
