SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on Sunday rejected accusations that the party had killed seven fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region.
The People’s Defense Forces (HPG), a PKK military wing, accused the KDP of killing seven of its fighters in an “ambush” in the Khalifan region, located in 80 km northeast of Erbil.
The HPG said it had lost contacts with the fighters since August 30, adding that they were “martyred in an inhuman manner”.
“It is propaganda and baseless,” KDP spokesman Mahmoud Mohammed said, adding that the PKK “aims to hide their crimes” by such accusations.
In July, the HPG also accused a KDP force of attacking and killing several of its fighters in Khalifan.
The allegation came just a few days after a senir Kurdish official said the PKK had opened fire at a Peshmerga unit near Khalifan.
Peshmerga’s Chief of Staff Jaafar Emniki said the Peshmerga forces also responded to the attack and that there were casualties, without specifying which side suffered casualties.
In June, five members of the Peshmerga forces were killed and seven others were injured after their convoy was attacked on Matin 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” the convoy in the area.
The PKK denied the accusations and called for investigations into the attack.
