The city of Sulaymaniyah in South Kurdistan is under threat from Al Qaeda. Following a bomb blast in the city on 20 December, which wounded two people, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Security Agency, Lashur Sheikh Jangi, said that Al Qaeda was threatening the city. It is reported that this threat was issued after the arrest in Sulaymaniyah of 36 people who had returned to the city after going to Syria to join Al Qaeda.

In recent times many young men have been tricked by both mosques and Islamist parties into joining Al Qaeda and going to Syria, where many have been used in attacks on the Kurds in Rojava. There are concerns that these Kurds returning from Syria may pose a potential threat.

According to the Basnews website, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Security Agency, Lashur Sheikh Jangi, said the attack on 20 December was carried out by armed groups fighting in Syria.

Sheikh Jangi said: "36 people have been arrested recently, having gone to Syria to fight against the PYD, mostly in the ranks of the Al Nusra Front, and returned. Most of them have received training in bomb making and on how to mount attacks on civilians. Following these arrests the armed groups have threatened to carry out revenge attacks on the security forces in Sulaymaniyah."

The Kurdistan government's Ministry for Religious Affairs has issued an official statement calling on the authorities to step up efforts to prevent young Kurds joining the war in Syria.