The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) special units and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists continue to be dispatched to Kirkuk, where Peshmerga and the PKK carry out severe provocation. Tensions in northern Iraq are running high with Iraqi President Muhammad Fuad Masum’s visit to the province of Saladin for mutual negotiation.
The PKK terrorists and Peshmerga units attacked the center of Tuz Khurmatu city. The armed conflict continued nightlong, as heavy weapons were used during the clash. The Barzani government dispatched dozens of vehicles to Kirkuk, while the conflict continued in Tuz Khurmatu.
A total of 70 U.S. Special Forces troops were dispatched to the Hewler U.S. military air base in Erbil as the conflict continued. The United States, sending reinforcement troops, arms and ammunition to its units in Dohuk, Mosul, Kirkuk and Makhmur during the referendum process, is reportedly preparing to declare a “safe zone” to prevent a possible operation by the Iraqi army on Kirkuk. The PKK terrorists, who are being sheltered in Kirkuk, were seen on the city streets on the night of Sept. 13.
The PKK carried on with their provocation targeting Turkmens and Arabs in Kirkuk during the day. The terrorists were seen at Peshmerga checkpoints with their weapons in Kirkuk, where 200 new PKK terrorists entered. They were first seen in convoys and then later marching in Kirkuk’s city center during the day with the purpose of provocation. The terrorists caused tension as they were holding the posters of the PKK ringleader and the terrorist organization’s flags.
As the conflict between Peshmerga and the Hashd al-Shaabi forces is ongoing in Kirkuk, the distance between them is as short as 10 meters, according to reports. After Kirkuk’s Hawija district was liberated from the Daesh terrorist organization, the Iraqi army, the Hashd al-Shaabi and federal police forces increased military deployments to the region against the Peshmerga, causing tensions to flare. Peshmerga forces tightened the security measures around the airport in the city center, the K-1 Air Base and the oil well that the KRG controls.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
