BAGHDAD, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Interior Ministry announced Monday the arrest of three criminals affiliated with the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over arson charges in the northern provinces of Erbil, Duhok, and Kirkuk in 2022.
The ministry's spokesman Muqdad Miri said in a joint press conference with an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government that the arson incidents in the three provinces caused damage amounting to an estimated 300 million U.S. dollars.
Miri said that they also planned to attack markets in Kirkuk and a main Iraqi oil pipeline that exports crude oil via the Turkish port of Ceyhan, as well as some key markets in Baghdad, Erbil, and Duhok.
Many PKK militants are based in border areas in northern Iraq, especially in the Qandil Mountains.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. ■
