PKK-affiliated group claims responsibility for attack on oil pipeline

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An umbrella group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on a pipeline that transports oil from fields in the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk to Turkey.

Turkey’s state-owned pipeline operator Botas said the Ceyhan - Kirkuk pipeline caught fire at 7:30 pm near the city of Kahramanmaras in southern Turkey, halting the flow of oil through the pipeline that later resumed. 

The PKK-affiliated Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement (HBDH) claimed responsibility for the explosion on Wednesday, though the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Natural Resources told Rudaw the incident was a result of “electrical failure.”

“On January 18, 2022, our militia destroyed the oil pipeline in Maraş/Pazarcık through a special attack technique,” the HBDH said in a statement. 

The pipeline had been previously attacked, with the PKK claiming responsibility for some of the offensives.

In October 2020, the group issued a statement stating they had carried out a “successful sabotage action” on the Botas oil pipeline in Turkey’s Mardin province. “As a result of this action, the pipeline at the site was completely destroyed.” 

Ceyhan port is the only port through which the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) sells oil. The KRG exported a total of nearly 80 million barrels of crude oil in the first half of 2021, collecting a net $1.7 billion according to published by the government in December.