Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are also in the immediate vicinity, which is close to territory it controls in the Qandil Mountains.

According to local sources, the situation reportedly began when a KDP-affiliated Peshmerga unit set up a camp in the area, with the PUK and PKK forces responding in kind. A major road between Ranya and Rawanduz passes through the area.

“We in the KIU see the situation as dangerous and we hope that the two leaders of the parties, the Kurdistan Region Presidency, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the Kurdistan Parliament all perform their duty and put a halt to these operations and propaganda, which have no regard for the fate of the nation and take the Region along a path of unknown destiny,” the KIU said in a statement.

The party argued that Iraq and the Middle East region are already in turmoil, dealing with geopolitical tension and the global coronavirus pandemic, and that the Kurdistan Region cannot bear another civil and political crisis between the KDP and PUK, which would cause the Region to lose all that it has gained in recent years.

“We ask the PUK and KDP and the KRG prime minister to immediately stop the media and social media warfare and to withdraw the Peshmerga from the conflict zone,” the KIU said.

“We also suggest that a supreme council should be formed to resolve the criticism and blame that the two parties pile on each other and for the Kurdistan Region presidency to have a more active role in the situation,” it added, NRT reported.

“We as the KIU are ready to do anything concerning the matter.”

The PKK force in the area was targeted by Turkish airstrikes late on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, with Ankara claiming it “neutralized” four PKK fighters in the attacks, using the term to refer to killing, wounding, or capturing an enemy combatant.

Reporter’s code: 50101