A group of PKK terrorists, along with a vehicle full of handmade explosives, was apprehended in the Iraqi city of Duhok earlier this month in the midst of plans to attack an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, according to Iraqi media outlets citing the Security Council of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Tuesday.
Two PKK terrorists were tasked with "spying on certain military, political and religious figures and orchestrating a bombed attack in the Sharya, Bersiyev, Kabartu, Shekhan camps housing Kurdish Yazidis," the council informed, adding that the car carrying explosives was seized and its driver too was arrested.
The said terrorists were employed by Naci Hacı Bedel, the so-called intelligence chief of the Sinjar region codenamed "Rojhat," the council said in its statement.
One of the terrorists, Hemin Yusuf Hıdır, codenamed "Andok," had joined the PKK in Sinjar back in 2016, and underwent military and political training for three months, according to his testimony included in the council’s statement next to his accomplice Ahmed Şemo Semir’s.
Afterward, Hıdır revealed, the organization wanted to dispatch him to Qandil but he refused and fled. He later reconnected with Bedel who assigned him and Semir to Duhok to gather intelligence.
Later, Hıdır and Semir were tasked with "detonating bombs" in one of the camps before they were caught at the Khanke camp.
Also revealing that he had been assigned by "intelligence chief" Bedel, Semir said he took pictures of vehicles driven by officials in Duhok and gathered intelligence.
He too confirmed being tasked with organizing a bomb attack in one of the camps housing internally displaced people.
The driver of the taxi carrying handmade explosives claimed he did not know the bags he was entrusted with contained explosives and denied being aware of what was happening.
Iraq’s Sinjar region is home to countless Yazidis, a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group indigenous to Western Asia, with most of the population living in Mosul and Duhok, with diaspora communities in Germany, Syria, Türkiye, Georgia and Armenia.
The city is wedged between Türkiye to the north and Syria to the west, making it a highly strategic zone long coveted by both the central government in Baghdad and the KRG in the north. Despite being administered by the Iraqi city of Mosul, it is considered a disputed enclave with the KRG. It fell under the control of the PKK and pro-Iran Iraqi militias following Daesh’s invasion in 2014.
The PKK terrorist group managed to establish a foothold in Sinjar in mid-2014 under the pretext of protecting the local Yazidi community from Daesh. Since then, the PKK has reportedly established a new base in Sinjar for its logistical and command-and-control activities.
The Sinjar agreement signed under the auspices of the United Nations between the central government in Baghdad and the KRG on Oct. 9, 2020, envisaged clearing the region of PKK terrorists. However, it never took effect, allowing the PKK to roam free in the territory to this day. The group is reportedly trying to turn the district into a "second Qandil."
The Yazidi community leaders have been calling on the Iraqi government, the KRG, and the international community for the implementation of a U.N.-mediated deal for displaced Yazidis to be able to return home, which is prevented by the PKK presence still constituting a major threat to the region.
Northern Iraq is known as the location of many PKK terrorist hideouts and bases from where they carry out attacks in Türkiye. The Turkish military regularly conducts cross-border operations in northern Iraq. Türkiye has long been stressing that it will not tolerate terrorist threats posed against its national security and has called on Iraqi officials to take necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara previously noted that if the expected steps were not taken, it would not shy away from targeting terrorist threats.