Tension escalates in Kurdish area after blast at north Iraqi airport

An explosion struck next to the Suleimaniyah International Airport in northern Iraqs semiautonomous Kurdish region Friday local officials said The blast came days after Turkiye closed its airspace to flights to and from the airport citing an alleged increase in Kurdish militant activity threatening flight safety Turkiye has spent years fighting Kurdish militants in its east Large Kurdish communities also live in neighbouring Iraq and SyriaThe Syrian Observatory for Human Rights a UKbased opposition war monitor and some local media reported that the explosion was a Turkish drone attack on Mazloum Abdi the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces the main USbacked and Kurdishled force in SyriaOfficials with the SDF and the Kurdish regional government in northeast Syria denied that Abdi was in Suleimaniyah at the time or had been the target of an attack Fethullah alHusseini a representative of the Kurdish selfrule administration in northeast Syria said Abdi was carrying on his work and is in northeast SyriaThe airports security directorate said in a statement that an explosion took place near the fence surrounding the airport at 418 pm local time causing a fire but no injuries It said the cause of the blast was under investigation and the airport was operating normallyLawk Ghafuri head of foreign media affairs for the Kurdish regional government in Iraq said investigations were still underway and that he was unable to confirm whether the explosion had been a drone attack However a statement from the Iraqi Kurdish regional government appeared to blame local authorities in Suleimaniyah which it accused of provoking an attack on the airport and using government institutions for illegal activitiesAlso read Turkey closes airspace to flights using north Iraqi airportThe regional government with its seat in Irbil is primarily controlled by the Kurdish Democratic Party while Suleimaniyah is a stronghold of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Two Kurdish officials in Irbil who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the incident with reporters said that the explosion was caused by a drone attack One of them said the attack had targeted Abdi A representative of the Turkish defence ministry said he had no information about the incidentTurkeys foreign ministry announced Wednesday that Turkish airspace was closed to flights taking off from and landing at the Suleimaniyah airport Turkish officials said the closure was a response to an alleged increase in the activities of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK in the city of Suleimaniyah including its infiltration of the airportThe decision came weeks after two helicopters crashed in northern Iraq killing Kurdish militants who were on board The incident fuelled claims that the PKK was in possession of helicopters infuriating Turkish authorities The SDF later said it lost nine fighters including a commander in the crash which occurred during bad weather on a flight to Suleimaniyah The nine included elite fighters who were in Iraq as part of an exchange of expertise in the fight against the Islamic State group the SDF saidOfficials from the Kurdish Democratic Party which has maintained largely good relations with Turkiye alleged after the crash that the helicopters had been originally purchased by the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and that they had been flying without permission from the regional governmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever