A feud between two Kurdish-British cousins, each leading their own forces, led to an attack on a hotel in Sulaimaniyah using artillery, Humvees, and drones. Residents are now fearful, and the region has become less stable. The rule of law in Iraqi Kurdistan is now much weaker.
Heavy artillery, US-made Humvees, and drones targeted the Lalezar Hotel in the Sarchinar district, where armed loyalists of Lahur Sheikh Jangi, the former PUK co-president, current lawmaker in the Kurdistan region parliament, and head of the People’s Front political party, had taken shelter.
The confrontation began at dawn on Friday, 22 August, as forces loyal to Bafl Talabani, the current president of the PUK and also a British national, as well as a cousin of Lahur Sheikh Jangi, clashed with Sheikh Jangi's fighters.
Residents described the night as one of terror. "We could not sleep. It was a night of hell," one told The New Arab. Shells, gunfire, and drone strikes echoed across the city. Footage aired by Channel 8, an official broadcaster to PUK, showed tanks and Humvees—supplied by the US-led coalition for the fight against Islamic State—rolling through the streets, and being used against Sheikh Jangi's fighters and neighbouring civilian buildings.
The nearly four-hour battle ended early Friday with the arrest of Lahur Sheikh Jangi and his brother Polad Talabani—both British nationals and members of the prominent Talabani family—while scores of their loyalists surrendered. Videos later circulated online showed Sheikh Jangi beaten and dragged by Kurdish security forces under PUK command. His party, the People's Front, said the fate of 29 loyalists who were inside the hotel remains unknown.
Well-informed sources in Iraq's politics claimed to TNA on condition of anonymity that before the assault on the hotel, the PUK had a green light from Iranian officials.
Conflicting accounts
Colonel Salam Abdulkhaliq, spokesperson for the Sulaimaniyah-based Kurdistan Region's Security Agency, in a statement, said that three security officers were killed and about twenty were wounded. Barzan Mohammed, Sulaimaniyah forensic director, noted to TNA that five bodies were received: three from PUK forces and two from Sheikh Jangi's fighters. One body was identified and claimed by relatives; another awaits DNA testing.
Social media claimed higher casualties, with some suggesting up to 50 fighters killed, and 30 bodies arrived to the morgue. The People's Front ("Baray Gal" in Kurdish) accused PUK-led authorities of concealing the true toll, saying the whereabouts of 29 people from the Lalezar Hotel were unknown.
Videos online showed detainees beaten after surrender, including a moment where one gunman was stopped from executing a captive. TNA could not confirm the authenticity of these videos.
The clashes were apparently triggered after an investigative judge issued arrest warrants against Sheikh Jangi and aides, who are aligned with the People's Front, under Article 56 of the Iraqi Penal Code on charges of "disturbing public order".
The PUK later accused Sheikh Jangi of plotting to assassinate Bafl Talabani—allegations rejected by the People's Front.
"This left no meaning for the state, the government, the rule of law, or stability," Shaduman Mala Hassan, a senior member of Lahur Sheikh Jangi's People's Front, told TNA. "The KRG has become a place where militias rule, not institutions. Whoever has the strongest weapons decides."
Hassan urged the US and France to investigate the use of foreign-supplied arms, warning that his party would consider seeking justice in international courts, given that Sheikh Jangi and his brother Polad Talabani-who was caught after being injured, hold British citizenship.
For its part, Washington expressed alarm. "We oppose any violence that threatens public safety and stability," a US State Department spokesperson told TNA.
The Pentagon did not respond to questions by the media about the use of American-supplied weapons in Kurdish infighting.
TNA also contacted Abdulkhaliq and Karwan Gaznay, PUK's spokesperson, but neither was available to comment until the time of publishing this report.
Kurdish media channels on Monday reported that PUK security wants to air confessions of Sheikh Jangi's gunmen and aides, alleging that they were plotting to destabilise the Kurdistan region. Abdulkhaliq has claimed to local media that the security forces have confiscated tens of suicide drones at the Lalezar Hotel.
TNA obtained footage apparently taken from inside Lalezar Hotel that shows a surveillance drone, believed to belong to the PUK forces, hovering over the Lalezar Hotel before the start of the midnight clashes.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), dominated by the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), said it had not been informed of the operation until the "final moments".
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani called for calm, warning that the violence endangered the stability of the autonomous region.
On Monday, the KDP Politburo condemned the clashes as "a source of anxiety not only for the people of Sulaimaniyah but for the entire Kurdistan Region."
The KRG prosecutor's office has since opened an investigation, and Baray Gal has filed a formal complaint against PUK at the Kurdistan region’s independent human rights commission.
Wider power struggle
The Kurdistan region is divided between the Talabani-led PUK in Sulaimaniyah and the Barzani-led KDP in Erbil and Dohuk, with each faction maintaining separate security forces. Years of pressure from international allies to unify these forces have seen little progress. Locals want donors to investigate why advanced weapons supplied to fight IS are instead used in intra-Kurdish disputes or to suppress demonstrations.
The rivalry between the PUK and KDP dates to the 1990s civil war. Lahur Sheikh Jangi's capture reflects ongoing personal power struggles in Kurdish politics and the continued instability in the region.
On Friday morning, smoke continued to rise from the Lalezar Hotel. Burnt-out cars lined the streets, and nearby homes and businesses were damaged. PUK forces launched arrests targeting Sheikh Jangi's civilian supporters. His brother Aras accused a PUK force of storming his home in Koya town near Erbil and looting it.
Civilians were reluctant to speak openly. One resident described the siege as "a night of terror," with neighbours silent for fear of reprisal. For many, the events underscored the fragility of institutions in the Kurdistan Region. "The clashes proved that whoever has the strongest militia rules," said Mala Hassan. "Law, democracy, and stability are absent."
Efforts to unify the Peshmerga over the decades seems to have mostly failed, with the Lalezar clash indicating urgent need for a single command.