MESOP NEWS : NO SOLIDARITY & NO KURDISH UNITY / PKK AGAINST DEPLOYMENT OF FRESH KURDISH TROOPS TO SYRIA

Clashes break out between rival Kurdish groups in Iraq’s Sinjar

3 March 2017 – SINJAR,— Rival Kurdish groups clashed in Iraq’s northwestern Sinjar region on Friday, two Kurdish security sources said, causing deaths on both sides.

The fighting erupted when Peshmerga Rojava (Roj) forces loyal to Massoud Barzani and his KDP party deployed toward the border with Syrian Kurdistan, encroaching on territory controlled by Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a local affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. (PKK). The unrest highlights the risk of conflict and turf wars between the multiple forces arrayed against Islamic State, many of which lean on regional patrons for political support or arms.“There are martyrs and wounded on both sides,” one security source said.

“This morning at 7 clashes started with DShK (heavy machine gun). Now there are martyrs and wounded on both sides,” said a Kurdish security source. The Peshmerga Rojava force is made up of Kurds from Syria and was formed and trained in Iraqi Kurdistan with the backing of Massoud Barzani, Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP leader, who enjoys good relations with Turkey.  Rojava forces, is financed and taking commands from Massoud Barzani.  Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on Friday said the PKK posed “a threat against the legitimate regional government in Northern Iraq and they are used by some countries against the current administration there.”“It’s our duty to destroy these terrorist organizations wherever they are,” the minister told reporters in Ankara.

Syrian Rojava Peshmerga forces trained by KDP’s Zeravani forces have deployed a new regiment to the Iraqi Kurdistan-Syrian Kurdistan border on Thursday, but the YBS fighters stood against Rojava Peshmerga forces and urged them to return.The Roj Peshmerga said they do not intend to enter territory in Syrian Kurdistan, after they became positioned in the Sinune district. www.mesop.de