Suspected Turkish drone attack in Sulaimaniyah leaves two injured

At least two people were injured in a suspected Turkish drone attack on a car in a residential area of ​​the city of Sulaimaniyah in the Iraqi Kurdistan region on Tuesday.

According to a statement by the security forces based in Sulaimaniyah (known locally as “Asayish”), the incident is currently under investigation. The cause of the explosion is still unknown. However, local Kurdish media and observers have suspected that the airstrike was carried out by a Turkish drone and targeted two Kurdish activists from Turkey.

The explosion occurred at around 11:30 a.m. when a white Kia Sportage was hit near the Miran City residential complex in the Raparin district of Sulaimaniyah. According to Kurdish security forces, the driver and a passenger were injured.

The new Arab Attempts to obtain further clarification from a spokesman for the city’s security forces were met with a refusal to comment.

The attack has caused concern among local residents, who see it as a dangerous escalation as it is a targeted residential area.

Last month, Turkey decided to extend the ban on flights through Turkish airspace to and from Sulaimaniyah International Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan until December 7, 2024.

The incident coincided with a visit by a delegation from the Iraqi Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee to Sulaimaniyah International Airport to investigate Turkish allegations that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was using the airport for military activities.

Turkey has long accused the ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which has de facto control of Sulaimaniya, of covering up the PKK’s operations in the province. However, the PUK has consistently denied these allegations.

In a related development, the interior ministries of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) accused the PKK of being responsible for a series of devastating fires in bazaars in Erbil, Duhok and Kirkuk provinces.

In recent months, significant fires have occurred in bazaars across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, injuring hundreds of people, destroying numerous shops and warehouses, and causing enormous financial damage estimated at millions of dollars. The frequent occurrence of these fires has led officials and citizens to suspect arson.

In a joint press conference, the Iraqi and Kurdish interior ministries presented the results of a bilateral investigation that identified the PKK as the perpetrator. They announced that three suspects had been arrested in connection with the fires, all of whom admitted to being members of the PKK.

Hemin Mirany, chief of staff at the KRG’s Interior Ministry, said two of the arrested individuals were members of Unit 70 of the Peshmerga and the Sulaimaniyah-based Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG). Both were linked to the PUK and had been “recruited” by the Kurdish group.

Miqdad Miri, spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, described the PKK as the “sponsor and executor” of the operation. He suspected that the PKK’s goal was to disrupt the commercial interests of a country it opposes – probably Turkey – and to destabilize the economy and security in the Kurdistan Region, thereby provoking public discontent.

In a press conference on Monday, Saedi Ahmed Pira, the PUK spokesman, denied the PUK’s involvement in the fires, pointing out that one of the CTG members had been fired eight months earlier. Pira also accused the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of trying to delay the region’s parliamentary elections in October by falsely linking the PUK to the fires.

The PKK rejected the allegations and countered that the Turkish secret service MIT was responsible for destabilizing Iraq and the Kurdistan Region through harmful actions and cross-border military operations aimed at occupying northern Iraq.

Miri pointed out that the PKK has plans to attack other targets in Erbil, Duhok, Kirkuk and Baghdad, including the Ceyhan pipeline from Kirkuk to Turkey. The group is also planning similar operations in two neighboring countries.

The PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara and the West, has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for decades to demand more rights for the Kurds. After talks with Turkish officials, Iraq also declared the PKK a “banned organization” in March.