Ukraine embassy in Baghdad denies role in alleged plot to assassinate PUK leader Bafel Jalal Talabani

The Embassy of Ukraine in Iraq has denied allegations of involvement in training Kurdish militants to use suicide drones, after a Sulaimaniyah-based security agency claimed there was a plot to assassinate Bafel Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

On 27 August, Sulaimaniyah's security agency said it had confessions that connected Lahur Sheikh Jangi, who leads the People's Front party and Azhi Amin, a member of the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council, to a group that was reportedly sent to Ukraine to learn how to use drones.

The agency alleged the pair plotted to assassinate Bafel Talabani and his brother Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

PUK-affiliated media showed a video of six men talking about plans to rent a flat close to the PUK leader's office, and showing snipers with guns fitted with silencers by a window looking over the office. Sheikh Jangi and Bafel Talabani, who are cousins and British citizens, are important Kurdish political leaders.

"The Embassy of Ukraine in Iraq categorically denies false media reports alleging Ukrainian involvement in training or preparing individuals for illegal activities in Iraq or the Kurdistan Region," the embassy said in a 30 August statement.

"Ukraine has never conducted, and does not conduct, training of militants or production of unmanned aerial vehicles for illegal use outside the country. Such claims are baseless disinformation. We view spreading false information as an attempt to discredit Ukraine and its leadership," the embassy's statement added. 

The embassy also urged the media to rely on official, verified sources and avoid spreading rumours or unconfirmed reports.

Five days earlier, on 22 August, fighting broke out when forces supporting Bafel Talabani attacked Lahur Sheikh Jangi's supporters at the Lalezar Hotel in Sarchinar district. PUK forces used large weapons, US-made military vehicles, and drones against the hotel, where Sheikh Jangi's armed followers were hiding. After the fighting, PUK forces arrested Sheikh Jangi and more than 150 of his fighters after they gave up.

Much of the military gear used in the battle had been given by the US-led coalition to help fight the Islamic State group.

Sheikh Jangi, who used to be a PUK co-president, is now a member of the Kurdistan parliament and leads the People's Front. He is Talabani's cousin and is being held at Kani Goma Prison, which is run by PUK security forces.

A group from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region's independent human rights commission recently visited him in prison and said he is healthy. However, officials have not let his lawyers see him and have not yet sent his case to court.

Colonel Salam Abdulkhaliq, spokesperson for the Sulaimaniyah-based security agency, last week said that three security officers were killed and about 20 were wounded in the Lalezar fighting. Barzan Mohammed, Sulaimaniyah's forensic director, told TNA that five bodies were received: three from PUK forces and two from Sheikh Jangi's fighters. One body has been identified and claimed by relatives, while another awaits DNA testing.

Shaduman Mullah Hassan, a senior member of Sheikh Jangi's People's Front, told TNA, "The KRG is now ruled by militias, not institutions. "

He urged the United States and France to investigate the use of foreign-supplied weapons and warned that the People's Front, led by Sheikh Jangi and his brother Polad Talabani—both British citizens—may seek justice in international courts. He also accused PUK authorities of concealing casualty figures and said 29 people from the Lalezar Hotel remain missing.