The 70 Forces Command issued a clarification regarding the allegations, stating that their personnel, along with other KRG forces, were not involved in the fire incidents in Erbil, Duhok, and Kirkuk.
They highlighted that suspects were recruited for monetary payments, proving these actions were not carried out under their authority.
“We are awaiting the Iraqi security forces’ thorough investigation of the matter to uncover the truth without any biased motives or conspiratorial agendas,” the command stated, stressing the need for transparency and accountability.
Meanwhile, in a press conference, Saadi Ahmad Pira, spokesman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), labeled the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Interior Ministry’s statements as part of an election campaign.
“We as the PUK strongly condemned the burning of the Qeysari market in Erbil,” Pira stated during the conference, which was attended by a Channel8 reporter.
He emphasized the PUK’s cooperation with the Iraqi intelligence agency to investigate the arson incidents in Kurdistan Region cities, and accused the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of using these accusations to disrupt the upcoming Kurdistan parliamentary elections.
“In short, the KDP is afraid of the elections,” Pira asserted.
The 70 Forces Command issued a clarification regarding the allegations, stating that their personnel, along with other KRG forces, were not involved in the incidents in Erbil, Duhok, and Kirkuk.
The Foreign Relations Committee of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group that includes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), also refuted the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s accusations.
The KCK’s statement, released on Monday, denied any PKK involvement in the fires and attributed the attacks to the Turkish intelligence service (MIT) and KDP intelligence service (Parastin).
They urged Baghdad to disclose the actual perpetrators behind the incidents.
Previously, in a joint-conference between the Interior ministries of Iraq and KRG, Hemin Mirany, chief of staff to the KRG’s Interior Ministry, said that two of the three arrested suspects were members of the Peshmerga’s 70 Forces Command, affiliated with the PUK, and the Sulaymaniyah-based Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG).
And the Iraqi Ministry of Interior had announced the arrest of three criminals linked to the banned PKK, responsible for causing fires and planning operations in Baghdad.
Brigadier General Miqdad Miri, the Iraqi ministry’s official spokesman, provided further details, noting the high coordination between federal and regional interior ministries.
He described the suspects’ method of setting fires, using dough that ignited hours later, targeting the economy of three governorates with damages worth millions of dollars.
Miri confirmed the suspects’ affiliation with the PKK and their plan to attack various commercial interests and infrastructure, including the Ceyhan oil pipeline, before being arrested in a covert operation in cooperation with the Kurdistan region.
