Crashed helicopter carrying PKK terrorists in northern Iraq purchased by group in PUK: KRG premier

ERBIL, Iraq

A helicopter carrying PKK terrorists that recently crashed in northern Iraq was purchased by a group within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) political party, the premier of the Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) has said, according to local media.

Masrour Barzani noted that the helicopter crashed in the Duhok region during Nowruz Festival celebrations, reported northern Iraqi television network Rudaw on Saturday.

"Actually, the helicopter was purchased by a group within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but we don't know how it got into the hands of the SDF (PKK/YPG)," Barzani said, adding that there was so far no further information about a second helicpoter

"We will work with the international coalition and the Iraqi Federal Government to further investigate this incident and find out why these helicopters are flying without permission in these areas. There is a lot to explain."

SDF is the label the PKK terror group uses in Syria. In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

The US has denied providing helicopter piloting training to SDF partners in Syria after the "mysterious" helicopter carrying PKK elements crashed in northern Iraq.

The Anti-Terrorism Unit of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) issued a statement on Facebook in response to the crash.

It said the relevant institutions alerted the Iraqi central government, international coalition forces, and Türkiye about the crashed helicopter, "although it was later revealed that it did not belong to them." The security forces started a preliminary inquiry into the helicopter, and the initial results showed it was a Eurocopter AS350 model, and that some of the dead were PKK terrorists, while a thorough inquiry is ongoing to discover who owns the helicopter, it added.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense said the allegations in various social media posts, claiming that a Turkish Armed Forces helicopter crashed in northern Iraq, did not reflect the truth.