DOHUK, Iraq: A mysterious helicopter crash in northern Iraq has killed at least five people, allegedly including militants belonging to an outlawed Kurdish insurgency group, according to statements Thursday from the Iraqi Kurdish-run counterterrorism agency and the region’s president.
The AS350 Eurocopter crashed in the district of Chamanke in Dohuk province in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region on Wednesday night, the counter-terrorism agency said in a statement posted on social media.
At least five passengers were killed, said Lawk Ghafuri, spokesperson for the Kurdish region’s President Nechirvan Barzani.
“The investigations are ongoing by security officials to determine the ownership of the helicopter,” Ghafuri said in a post on Twitter.
At least seven were on board, according to an investigator at the crash scene speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation with the media.
The helicopter was carrying militants belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, the counter-terrorism statement said. No party has of yet claimed ownership of the chopper.
Iraq’s government, the U.S-led coalition and Turkiye had been contacted by the Iraqi Kurdish regional government about the crash, but each denied the helicopter was theirs, the statement added.
Zagros Hiwa, a PKK spokesperson, said the group does not possess helicopters and they were also investigating the incident. He also cast doubt on the presence of PKK militants onboard the flight, saying they may have a coalition helicopter carrying fighters with the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, a Syrian Kurdish group allied with the US-led forces.
A spokesman for the US-led coalition declined to comment, saying the crash fell outside the scope of the coalition’s operations.
Turkish defense ministry officials said that initial reports that the helicopter had been Turkish were “completely untrue” and that there was no helicopter flight belonging to the Turkish military in the region.
The PKK has been waging an insurgency against Turkiye since the 1980s and is considered a terrorist group by Ankara, the United States and the European Union. Its militants have established safe havens in northern Iraq and frequently come under attack by Turkiye in the region.
5 killed in mysterious north Iraq helicopter crash; PKK militants reportedly onboard
https://arab.news/pcfh5
5 killed in mysterious north Iraq helicopter crash; PKK militants reportedly onboard
- The helicopter was carrying militants belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, says Iraqi Kurdish-run counterterrorism agency
Tunisian police arrest member of parliament who mocked president
- Ahmed Saidani mocked the president in a Facebook post, describing him as the “supreme commander of sewage and rainwater drainage”
TUNIS: Tunisian police arrested lawmaker Ahmed Saidani on Wednesday, two of his colleagues said, in what appeared to be part of an escalating crackdown on critics of President Kais Saied.
Saidani has recently become known for his fierce criticism of Saied. On Tuesday, he mocked the president in a Facebook post, describing him as the “supreme commander of sewage and rainwater drainage,” blasting what he said was the absence of any achievements by Saied.
Saidani was elected as a lawmaker at the end of 2022 in a parliamentary election with very low voter turnout, following Saied’s dissolution of the previous parliament and dismissal of the government in 2021.
Saied has since ruled by decree, moves the opposition has described as a coup.
Most opposition leaders, some journalists and critics of Saied, have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.
Activists and human rights groups say Saied has cemented his one-man rule and turned Tunisia into an “open-air prison” in an effort to suppress his opponents. Saied denies being a dictator, saying he is enforcing the law and seeking to “cleanse” the country.
Once a supporter of Saied’s policies against political opponents, Saidani has become a vocal critic in recent months, accusing the president of seeking to monopolize all decision-making while avoiding responsibility, leaving others to bear the blame for problems.
Last week, Saidani also mocked the president for “taking up the hobby of taking photos with the poor and destitute,” sarcastically adding that Saied not only has solutions for Tunisia but claims to have global approaches capable of saving humanity.
Under Tunisian law, lawmakers enjoy parliamentary immunity and cannot be arrested for carrying out their duties, although detention is allowed if they are caught committing a crime.
