PKK raid on Iraqi villages kills five, Iraqi deputy president says

BAGHDAD – Anadolu Agency

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters along with Kurdistan Workers' Party(PKK) fighters stand atop of a hill overlooking the town of Sinjar Dec. 22. REUTERS Photo

Iraqi Deputy President Osama al-Nujaifi has claimed that outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants have attacked villages between Mosul’s Sinjar and Rabia regions, killing five people and injuring several others.“According to the information I have received, the PKK have killed five people and left dozens injured in armed raids on three villages … between the Sinjar and Rabia regions,” a statement from al-Nujaifi’s office said late on Jan. 26.“The militants of the organization have also burnt scores of houses and killed animals,” it added.Describing the offensive as “barbaric,” al-Nujaifi also called on the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to launch an investigation into the incident and to punish the assailants.The statement also added that the deputy president has delegated Mosul Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi to hold talks with KRG security officials on the issue.The PKK, which has fought alongside Iraqi Peshmerga forces to end the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) siege in Sinjar, had previously drawn reactions from the Iraqi Kurds when it suggested a canton should be applied in the Iraqi Yazidi town. KRG President Masoud Barzani’s party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), had slammed the initiative, describing it as “disrespect” to KRG laws and the will of the people.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has also claimed that the PKK is fighting in Sinjar “not for the integrity of Iraq, or its love of Baghdad, or the Peshmerga, but rather to take control of that region.”“According to the information I have received, the PKK have killed five people and left dozens injured in armed raids on three villages … between the Sinjar and Rabia regions,” a statement from al-Nujaifi’s office said late on Jan. 26.“The militants of the organization have also burnt scores of houses and killed animals,” it added.Describing the offensive as “barbaric,” al-Nujaifi also called on the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to launch an investigation into the incident and to punish the assailants.The statement also added that the deputy president has delegated Mosul Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi to hold talks with KRG security officials on the issue.The PKK, which has fought alongside Iraqi Peshmerga forces to end the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) siege in Sinjar, had previously drawn reactions from the Iraqi Kurds when it suggested a canton should be applied in the Iraqi Yazidi town. KRG President Masoud Barzani’s party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), had slammed the initiative, describing it as “disrespect” to KRG laws and the will of the people.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has also claimed that the PKK is fighting in Sinjar “not for the integrity of Iraq, or its love of Baghdad, or the Peshmerga, but rather to take control of that region.”