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Iraq states it has actually apprehended PKK-linked cell suspected of preparing attacks

Iraq said on Monday it had jailed 3 people linked to the forbidden Kurdistan Employees Party (PKK) and presumed of planning attacks throughout the country, including on a key oil export pipeline in the north.

Interior ministry authorities showed press reporters three suspects worn yellow jumpsuits with their faces covered by masks and stated they had comprised a cell linked to the PKK.

An investigation revealed that these PKK members had strategies to attack the Ceyhan oil pipeline linking Kirkuk, Erbil and Duhok to Turkey, Interior Ministry representative Brigadier General Muqdad Meeri told a press conference in Baghdad.

Meeri stated that the 3 had admitted to setting sabotage fires at business markets in the Kurdistan region including the city of Kirkuk over the past couple of months.

He stated the current fires had incurred losses of around $300. million and were purchased by the PKK as a part of a campaign to. attack the commercial interests of a neighbouring state, which. Iraqi security officials said was Turkey.

The PKK, which has bases around northern Iraq, is designated. a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European. Union. The group launched an insurgency in southeast Turkey in. 1984 in which more than 40,000 individuals have actually been eliminated.

In a declaration, the PKK dismissed the interior ministry. allegations and rejected involvement in the arson attacks, which. it blamed on Turkey's intelligence company and a security firm. associated to the celebration that runs Iraq's Kurdish area.

Turkish forces regularly perform strikes in neighbouring. Iraq as part of an offensive against PKK militants based there.

Iraq has actually stepped up pressure on the PKK because a see by. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad in April.

Meeri said the arrested suspects had also prepared to attack. hectic markets areas in the capital Baghdad if there was pressure. from the federal government or government forces against them.

(source: Reuters)