Asayish confirm five casualties in KSDP clashes

Shafaq News / The security institution "Asayish" in the Kurdistan Region announced, on Friday, the killing of one person and the injury of four others in clashes between forces affiliated with t the Kurdistan Social Democratic Party (KSDP) on Thursday evening in the village of Gulkhana in Halabja.

The institution stated that Asayish forces in the Kurdistan Region (KRI) rushed to the scene, and the perpetrator was apprehended by the General Directorate of Security Operations.

Forces affiliated with the KSDP leader Mohammed Haji Mahmoud, known as "Kaka Hama", attacked the house of his brother, Abdullah Haji Mahmoud, Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs in the Regional Government, on Thursday evening and clashed with the guards of the house. This incident followed Abdullah Haj Mahmoud's expulsion from the party during its eighth conference.

A source stated, "Mohammed Haji Mahmoud, decided to take over all the possessions of his brother after the eighth conference, and armed forces were sent to his brother Abdullah's house, demanding him to surrender his house and its contents, as it was handed over to him from the party's revenues."

The source added that "The guards of Abdullah Haji Mahmoud's house, led by his son Daban, confronted Mohammed Haji Mahmoud's forces, and clashes erupted between the two sides."

The source pointed out that "injuries resulted from the clashes, and the situation remains unstable as security forces are attempting to control the situation."

Mohammed Haj Mahmoud was re-elected as the leader of the party at the KSDP’s eighth conference, which was held today in Gulkhana without the participation of several party members, including Abdullah Haji Mahmoud.

On March 5, 2013, the KSDP expelled Abdullah Haji Mahmoud, the party's deputy leader, from its ranks, and all the properties he possessed belonged to the party. He was also requested to relinquish his position in the government.

The KSDP was founded by Mahmoud Osman, Adnan Mufti, and Rasul Mamand in 1976. In 1979, some of its members joined it after separated from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), including the current secretary of the party.