Casualties reported in new PKK-Peshmerga clashes north of Kurdistan's Erbil province

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants on Monday opened fire on a Peshmerga outpost in Kurdistan Region’s Soran district, an official said.

“The incident took place in Erbil’s Khalifan sub-district just before Bekhma dam on Monday afternoon, and the Peshmerga forces returned fire,” Peshmerga Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Jamal Mohammad told Kurdistan 24 on Monday.

Initial reports indicate “there are casualties,” the official added.

The incident is the second of its kind this week. On Saturday, PKK militants opened fire on Peshmerga fighters on Mount Matina in Duhok province.

Read More: PKK attack Peshmerga position at Mount Matina in Duhok

“The casualties among the Peshmerga is proof that PKK is the instigating side,” Mohammed told Kurdistan 24 on Saturday.

He added, PKK's attacks have also resulted in “the evacuation of over 300 villages in the border regions between Kurdistan Region and Turkey, while at the same time giving the Turkish army an excuse to enter the region.”

The PKK has been locked in a decades-long conflict against Ankara over Kurdish rights in Turkey that has led to tens of thousands of deaths on both sides.

The group is headquartered in the Kurdistan Region's Qandil Mountains, mostly in rural areas along the Turkish and Iranian borders.

Officials from both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have repeatedly called on Turkey and the PKK to take their fight away from areas populated by civilians, thousands of whom have been displaced, suffered damage to their farms, livestock, or other property.

Others have suffered serious injury or even death as a result of skirmishes or Turkish bombardment of suspected PKK positions.