In a written statement on Wednesday, the Press Centre of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG-BIM) reported that a five-person guerrilla team was attacked by reconnaissance aircraft in the Balisan Valley. 3 guerrillas were martyred and 2 others were injured during the attack, said the HPG, calling for the incident to be clarified.

The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Executive Council released a statement concerning the attack on the guerrillas. “How can HPG members ever get detected by drones as they move in a dark night in a region outside the war zone? Who advised the Turkish state to do so? What were KDP forces doing there? Also, the locals close to the scene of the attack say that they heard gunshots as the KDP forces arrived. These are the questions to be answered,” the KNK statement on Thursday said.

The statement referred to the HPG's call for an investigation into the incident and the return of the injured fighters by the KDP, saying, “We support the HPG's call. This incident should be investigated and clarified, and the injured fighters should be handed over to the HPG. This is not the first time that guerrillas were ambushed in the region. Two groups were previously attacked by the KDP forces on July 26, 2021 and on August 29, 2021. 12 members of the HPG have lost their lives in these three ambushes. The Turkish state has lately sunk into a deadlock during its attacks on South Kurdistan, losing more soldiers and having more helicopters shot down recently. When this is the case, the KDP has increased and expanded its support and cooperation with the Turkish state. In some places it builds roads for the invaders, and in some places, it directly lines up along their troops.”

Appealing to the KDP, the statement continued, “The Kurdish Freedom Movement has reached a high level and achieved great successes in the four parts of Kurdistan. Of course, we also paid high prices. Your cooperation with the Turkish state, both at the national and international level, is doing great harm to our struggle, activities and achievements. The solution is not to engage in any cooperation with the enemy, which is never acceptable. Right, we are aware of some existing problems which could only be resolved through dialogue. At the same time, we call on all parties, political organizations, social institutions, artists, intellectuals and all patriots to raise their voices against the KDP's cooperation with the occupying state and to take a patriotic stance before it is too late. Everyone should raise their voice and not remain silent.”

KNK also called for injured guerrillas to be handed over to the HPG, condemning “once again, the forces and invaders involved in this trap.”