PKK/YPG terrorists, Iraqi border guards clash in northern Iraq

By Haydar Karaalp and Heman Hussein Yaseen

ERBIL, Iraq (AA) – The PKK/YPG terrorists and Iraqi border guards clashed in northern Iraq on Thursday, according to local sources.

A conflict broke out in the Sidekan town in Erbil between the Iraqi border guards and PKK/YPG terrorists, who aimed at seizing the regions from where the anti-Iran groups withdrew recently, local sources told Anadolu.

Iraqi border guards sent reinforcements to the border to ensure security in the region, while the terrorist organization PKK was seeking to expand towards the evacuated Qandil Mountains areas, an Anadolu reporter said.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the Iraqi government adheres to its security agreement with Iran and has taken necessary measures to relocate Kurdish groups that Iran has accused of carrying out terror attacks.

Iraq’s Constitution “does not allow any party to use Iraqi soil to attack neighboring countries," he said, adding that Iranian attacks in northern Iraq “are not acceptable.”

Iranian authorities have often protested what they call the presence of “terrorist groups” in Iraq’s Kurdish region, with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carrying out a series of drone and missile strikes late last year on their positions.

In late August, Iran announced an agreement with the Iraqi government on “disarming and relocating” the “armed terrorist groups” in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region by Sept. 19.

Tehran threatens that if the Iraqi authorities do not act, the Iranian military will resume its operations.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi