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Kurdistan
The insignia of the People's Protection Units (YPG) on a member's uniform. File photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Peshmerga ministry has said that its forces came under attack from a component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) early on Wednesday morning.
Eight fighters from the People’s Protection Units – the backbone of the SDF - attempted to cross the border near Sihela and enter the Kurdistan Region, according to the Deputy Minister of Peshmerga Sarbast Lazgeen, who said their forces were then attacked by a larger group.
“Peshmerga forces warned them, and that is when three of them retreated, but five of them kept proceeding as though they were trying to distract our forces,” Lazgeen said in a press conference. “We were then attacked by a group of 50 to 60 armed men that came from Rojava (northeast Syria).”
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the incident as a "reckless, unprovoked attack by the YPG" in a Wednesday evening statement.
"This was a clear and illegal violation of the territory of Kurdistan Region and the authority of the Kurdistan Regional Government," he wrote, calling on the Global Coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) to "ensure the YPG does not repeat this act of aggression."
"The YPG cannot be allowed to exploit foreign assistance to launch attacks on our territory. Any repeat would be seriously damaging to regional security.”
The YPG have denied the attack, according to PKK-affiliated Roj News.
The incident just comes just two days after a Peshmerga was killed in clashes between the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in Amedi, Duhok province – the latest in a series of clashes between the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the PKK.
SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi slammed the incident as a “shameful” KDP attack on the PKK in a Tuesday morning tweet.
“The attack by KDP forces on PKK guerillas in Amedi is shameful and hurts the achievements of the Kurdish cause,” Abdi wrote.
"We want to deal with problems in a peaceful way through dialogue, but it seems Rojava cannot stray from Qandil's ideology, and this could be seen in Mazloum Abdi's tweet," Lazgeen said in response to the SDF commander’s statement, accusing him of supporting the PKK.
Abdi served as PKK fighter for decades. The group has its bases in the Kurdistan Region’s Qandil Mountains, and has fought the Turkish state for decades for greater rights for the country’s Kurdish minority.
Ankara considers the YPG to be the Syrian extension of the PKK, seen as a terrorist group in Turkey , which it used as reasoning for its invasion into Rojava last October, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians.
The YPG, although ideologically inspired by PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, denies any links to the PKK.
"We want the PKK to leave the Kurdistan Region, we have dealt with a lot of damage caused by their presence," Lazgeen told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman on Wednesday, but said the KRG has “no intention” of fighting the PKK and wants the issue to be resolved peacefully.
However, he emphasized that “the PKK’s manners and ideology since 1984 has not been peaceful” and says the PKK’s presence in the Kurdistan Region is “illegal” and a “violation of the Region’s sovereignty.
Clashes erupted between KPD Peshmerga forces and PKK fighters in Chamanke sub-district of Duhok on November 4, killing one Peshmerga and injuring three others.
The armed group claimed an attack on an oil pipeline in late October, which paused the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports to Turkey.
KDP leader Masoud Barzani has accused the group of taking advantage of the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) group to invade the Kurdistan Region.
In a speech last week, PM Barzani accused “foreign” entities of instigating violence in widespread protests that have consumed parts of the Kurdistan Region since early December.
"We are against an intra-Kurdish war, but this should not be taken advantage of. We will not allow illegitimate substitutes to replace the KRG," he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi led a national security meeting on Wednesday, praising Peshmerga forces and alleging Syrian Kurdish forces smuggle people and weapons from Rojava.
Officials "discussed the dangerous attack on our national borders in al-Suhela-Fishkhabour area where armed groups from Syrian territories try to bomb our border and the areas - where Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga guards and federal armed forces are present - in order to smuggle people and weapons."
Updated 10:37pm
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