Three Peshmerga members were wounded after a bomb targeting a Peshmerga force affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) exploded and was followed by clashes with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in Amedi’s Chamanke sub-district early on Wednesday as tensions have been running high between the PKK and KDP over a range of disputed issues recently.
Named Hersh Jawhar, the dead Peshmerga is the father of four children.
Head of Culture and Media Culture Department at the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG ) Pehsmerga Affairs Ministry Babkir Faqe Ahmed told the KDP official media outlet that the PKK fighters fired from far distance and it was not a direct attack on Peshmerga forces.
In a contrasting statement, the Deputy Chief of Staff Qaraman Kamal told NRT Digital Media that there were no clashes between the Peshmerga forces and the PKK fighters.
“What happened was just the explosion of a bomb on Zeravani [KDP-affiliated] forces that were trying to set up their base and did not know there were bombs,” Kamal said.
Also on Wednesday, during a meeting by the KRG Council of Minister, the Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the blast and “stressed that Peshmerga forces have a mandate to protect the constitutional and federal status of the Kurdistan Region. He noted that any attack on Peshmerga forces constitutes an attack on the Kurdistan Region, its institutions and its people,” according to a KRG press release.
He also said that the KRG is “committed to peace and security in the region and issued a warning against the escalation of violence and conflict within its borders," asserting the Kurdistan Region "maintains the right to defend itself against threats to its territorial integrity."
The Kurdistan Region Presidency also accused the PKK of the bomb blasts.
“We emphasize that the PKK must respect the constitutional entity of the Kurdistan Region, its government and its lawful institutions, and it must keep wars and undue troubles away from the Kurdistan Region,” the Presidency said in a tweet.
The PKK recently accused the KDP of military build-ups in the vicinity of its outposts in Gara and Metina areas of Duhok’s Amedi district, while KDP-affiliated security forces blamed the PKK for the recent murder of a border official near Amedi.
In another similar incident, two Peshmerga members were wounded in a roadside bomb blast between Nisra and Sarikanika villages in Chamanke sub-district around 06:30 p.m.
In recent weeks, the armed wing of the PKK, the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) said in a statement that it exploded the Kurdistan Region’s oil pipeline in Turkey.
“Our forces carried out a successful sabotage action targeting Botaş Oil Pipeline passing through Bagok region of Mardin at 13:00 on October 28. As a result of this action, the pipeline at the site was completely destroyed,” it said.
On October 31, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) condemned a “terrorist attack” that targeted a pipeline transporting its oil exports. The statement did not directly attribute responsibility for the attack.
Reporter's code: 50101