Iraqi police and security sources announced that "two members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party were seriously injured today, Tuesday, due to an explosion in a car in the city of Sulaymaniyah in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq." Two security sources added that "police cordoned off the area and immediately began an investigation to determine the circumstances of the explosion." Police sources reported that it is still unclear whether the explosion was caused by a bomb planted in the car or by a fuel tank explosion. However, one security source stated that the explosion resulted from a bomb being placed inside the car of a Kurdistan Workers' Party member.
Iraq announced yesterday, Monday, that it had arrested three individuals linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, suspected of planning attacks across the country, including targeting a major oil export pipeline in the north. Turkey, the United States, and the European Union classify the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has bases in northern Iraq, as a "terrorist organization." The PKK has been waging an insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984, resulting in the deaths of over 40,000 people. Turkish forces regularly conduct military campaigns in neighboring Iraq against PKK militants stationed there. Iraq has intensified its pressure on the Kurdistan Workers' Party since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Baghdad in April.
