In the town of Sinjar in Iraqi Kurdistan, 15 peshmergas were wounded yesterday when their bus carrying peshmerga forces triggered a roadside bomb explosion.
Initially blamed on Daesh, the KRG West Dicle Chief of Police Aşti Koçer said yesterday that the bomb was likely brought from a PKK-controlled region and possibly planted by PKK terrorists, rather than Daesh militants.
"It seems that PKK terrorists learned the time schedule of peshmerga's guard change and detonated the bomb via remote control at the Sinjar border as peshmerga forces were on the way to their posts," Chief Koçer told Anadolu Agency (AA), adding that this tactic is relatively new and that officials will take measures to prevent further incidents. According to information gathered from health sources, 15 peshmergas are undergoing treatment at local hospitals.
According to a statement shared on the Peshmerga Ministry's official website, the bus that was carrying the Peshmerga forces was struck by a roadside bomb in the town of Sinjar. The statement did not indicate who had claimed responsibility for the attack, indicating though that 12 Peshmergas were wounded.
200 PKK terrorists brought to Kirkuk within US's knowledgeMeanwhile, the leader of the Iraqi-Turkmen Front Ershad Salihi stated that 200 armed members of the PKK terrorist organization are being brought to Kirkuk. Speaking to AA, Salihi said that 200 PKK terrorists came to the Kervan military base in Kirkuk with the permission of Kirkuk Governor Necmeddin Kerim, adding that this situation concerns them more than ever.
"The governor who does not let Turkmens arm themselves for protection. Why does he bring PKK terrorists to the region?" Salihi asked, going on to say: "If these [terrorists] are brought to the region under the guise of fighting against Daesh, we, as Turkmens, are already engaging in this fight," indicating that the U.S. was also aware of the existence of the PKK in Kirkuk and they expect the U.S. to provide an explanation regarding the issue.
The U.S. continues to actively arm PKK terrorists with weaponry they send to militants for the PKK's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) which ultimately end up in the hands of the People's Protection Unit (YPG), the armed wing of the PYD. The U.S. claims that the PYD and the PKK are different groups and share no organic ties. However, a senior U.S. official recently admitted that the U.S. military gave PKK militants recommendations about rebranding themselves to face milder reactions from Turkey.
Listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Turkey and the EU, the PKK resumed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015, unilaterally violating the cease-fire.
Since then, over 600 security personnel, including troops, police officers and village guards, have died in PKK attacks and more than 7,000 terrorists have been killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq, according to military sources.