Did the US give PKK terror group two choppers that crashed in north Iraq?

On a darkish March night time final week, two helicopters went down within the northern Iraqi metropolis of Duhok, killing at the least 9 PKK terrorists in an incident wrapped in thriller and presumably even subterfuge.

Immediately after the March 15 crash of the 2 France-made AS350 Eurocopters, Paris refused to remark on the incident. 

The so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – a US-backed group pushed by the YPG/PKK terror group – claims that the helicopters crashed as a consequence of unhealthy climate situations.

Days later, sturdy proof began to emerge, suggesting that the helicopters have been owned by the PUK, an Iraqi Kurdish group led by the highly effective Talabani household based mostly in Sulaymaniyah, a metropolis in northeastern Iraq.

PUK founder Jalal Talabani, who turned the Iraqi president after the US invasion, was probably the most distinguished member of the household earlier than his demise in 2017. 

Rewa Haci, a Sulaymaniyah-based journalist, says that the US has facilitated the acquisition of the choppers by the PUK.  

“All evolving evidence shows” that the 2 helicopters belonged to the PUK, whose intelligence wing Asayish “acquired them under the auspices of the United States”, Haci tells TRT World.

Mesrur Barzani, a member of one other highly effective Iraqi Kurdish household and Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) based mostly in Erbil, nevertheless, stated solely one of many crashed helicopters belonged to the PUK. 

The Barzanis, who’ve led the KDP social gathering, and the Talabanis have lengthy clashed for management of the KRG. 

Haci says the PUK would possibly personal extra helicopters, all purchased from the US about 9 years in the past through the Iraqi invasion.

With the US’s permission, the PUK bought them to the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK, he provides. PKK is recognised as a terrorist group by Washington, NATO and Ankara.  

Under the pretext of combating in opposition to Daesh, the US has allied with the YPG terror group – a place lengthy condemned by Türkiye for pitting one terrorist group in opposition to one other. The US has at all times denied the YPG’s connections to the PKK, although it’s an simple political actuality apparent to many observers, together with American analysts.

“PKK/YPG supporters have once again been caught red-handed by giving helicopters to terrorists. They must now understand that these are futile efforts,” Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar stated final week, referring to the dual chopper crash and US help to the YPG/PKK. 

While the US developed sturdy ties with the YPG through the Syrian civil struggle, Washington’s shielding of the PKK goes again to the start of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. 

Besides the US-PKK ties, the crash has additionally “exposed a working relationship” between the PUK and the PKK, in accordance with Abdullah Agar, a former Turkish military officer and a safety analyst. 

Haci additionally believes PKK-PUK ties have lately deepened throughout northern Iraqi and Syrian territories, which could have critical penalties for the KDP management in Erbil. 

Mysterious flights

Flight information reveals the 2 helicopters have been flying from Hasakah, a northeastern Syrian metropolis beneath YPG management, to the PUK-ruled Sulaymaniyah. 

The helicopters’ flight path has proven that the US has ensured an air hall to the phobia group YPG/PKK, in accordance with Haci. 

The Sulaymaniyah-based journalist even believes that “a land corridor” might need been secured by the US for the YPG/PKK to move their terrorists between Iraqi and Syrian territories. 

Agar additionally has related ideas to Haci. “Some known and unknown PKK routes, which prove the YPG’s connections with the terror group, have been formed between Syria and Iraq.” 

Several sources say that the crew of the 2 helicopters have been members of the so-called anti-terrorist models, YAT, of the SDF, which additionally admitted the helicopters have been carrying its members.  

One of the killed PKK terrorists was Sherwan Kobane, the nephew of Mazlum Kobane, a PKK terrorist and the so-called chief of the SDF. Other lifeless figures additionally seemed to be main members of the YPG/PKK. 

Last 12 months, Bafel Jalal Talabani, the present head of the PUK, met Sherwan and Mazlum Kobane in northeastern Syria, indicating his rising political alliance with the YPG/PKK management in opposition to the KDP. Bafel is the older son of Jalal Talabani.

After the Syria go to, Talabani – who ousted his cousin Lahur Talabani and his supporters from the social gathering management in a household feud in mid-2021 – launched a Facebook video through which he’s seen carrying a flowery army camouflage sporting a YAT patch and providing condolences to Kobane. 

Agar says that Talabani, who has ties with rivals US and Iran, now needs to “play a prominent role in both northern Syria and northern Iraq as an ally of the YPG/PKK”. 

PUK-PKK in opposition to KDP

The helicopter crashes carry huge significance as a result of it reveals “a new formation” rising within the area between the PUK and PKK, in accordance with Agar. The US labored arduous to develop a political understanding between the KDP and the YPG/PKK in northern Syria for years, but it surely didn’t deliver either side collectively, the analyst says. 

“In recent years, the US has worked on another front where it aimed to persuade the PUK and the YPG/PKK to work together through the Mazlum Kobane-Bafel Talabani cooperation at the leadership level,” says Agar. They appear to have come a great distance as a result of Talabani has an inclination in direction of this alliance, in accordance with Agar. 

While the PKK has confronted sturdy opposition within the Barzani-controlled areas in northern Iraq, the phobia group can simply transfer throughout areas beneath the PUK rule, says Agar. The PKK has shaped practically 20 bases throughout the Garmian area, which is situated between Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah, the 2 cities beneath the PUK affect, in accordance with Agar. 

The PUK-PKK alliance goals to decrease the KDP’s affect within the Iraqi Kurdish area, which is led by a political coalition of the KDP and PUK. But the ability battle between the Talabanis and Barzanis has prevented the KRG from functioning correctly, main the PUK and its allies to boycott regional parliamentary classes often. 

The PUK-PKK alliance would possibly push the KDP to extend its cooperation with Türkiye, which sees the Kobane-Talabani cooperation as a menace to its border and nationwide safety.  

Denial and deaths

Despite the rising murky particulars, the US continues to disclaim any reference to the current crash. “There was no US or coalition involvement in the helicopter incident, nor do we have any knowledge either before that mission took place,” in accordance with Pentagon Spokesman Brig. Gen Pat Ryder. 

But the query he left unanswered is: How may a West-manufactured helicopter fly between northern Iraqi and Syrian territories the place the US has a large presence with out Washington’s information? 

Another level of hypothesis and debate is the variety of casualties within the twin crash. While the Erbil-based KRG counter-terrorism unit initially stated that seven PKK members have been killed, the SDF put the quantity at 9. 

Even the variety of helicopters concerned within the incident seems to be shrouded in thriller. Some preliminary studies advised that one chopper crashed, however others, together with the SDF, stated two helicopters have been down. 

“There is no report on the second helicopter,” says Agar. The safety analyst believes the helicopters may have carried heavy weapons or medicine. 

As a consequence, completely different energy teams within the area would possibly attempt to cowl up the incident, he provides.

Source: TRT World