Security forces in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region have arrested members of a group they said were planning “terrorist” attacks against government officials and civilians.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council accused the group of affiliation with Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a dissident Kurdish group which is based in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The suspected terrorist cell of two was uncovered on January 6 in Dohuk, one of three provinces that make up the Kurdistan Region, said the statement.
Three explosive devices were seized, the statement said, while a taxi driver who transported them was arrested.
It identified the suspects as Hayman Youssif Khudhir and Ahmed Shamo Samir.
“During the investigation, the two acknowledged that they had orders from PKK intelligence officer Naji Haji Badal to keep an eye on military vehicles and political, religious and social figures in order to carry out terrorist attacks and bombings,” it said.
The suspects acknowledged planning attacks against four camps outside Dohuk that hosted Yazidis, a religious minority who fled their homeland of Sinjar when ISIS swept through much of Iraq in 2014.
No explanation was given as to why Yazidis might have been targeted by the group.
The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, initially seeking an independent Kurdish state before changing their demands and seeking an autonomous Kurdish region within Turkey. The conflict has killed about 40,000 people, many of them civilians.
It has training camps and bases in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and is designated a terrorist group by the US and EU.
Ankara has launched a series of military operations against PKK fighters in Iraq and Syria, causing casualties not only among the fighters but also civilians.
Iraqi Kurdistan has complicated relations with the PKK because its presence in the region impedes trade relations with neighbouring Turkey.
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What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
