ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - People’s Front (Baray Gal) leader Lahur Talabany and his brothers Polad and Aso Sheikh Jangi were detained in Sulaimani after overnight clashes with security forces, a security source said on Friday.
Security forces surrounded the Lalezar Hotel in western Sulaimani city where Talabany was staying after a court issued an arrest warrant for him on Thursday.
Clashes broke out around 3 am on Friday morning and continued for nearly four hours before Talabany and his brothers were arrested. Polad Sheikh Jangi was injured, the source said.
Heavy gunfire broke out in Sulaimani early Friday morning as security forces sought to arrest Lahur Talabany.
Several other people were also reported wounded and unconfirmed reports suggested fatalities, though no official information has been released.
There were also reports of drones crashing in the area.
Lahur Talabany is also known as Lahur Sheikh Jangi. In 2021, he was ousted as co-chair of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) by his cousins Bafel and Qubad Talabani. The PUK is the ruling party in Sulaimani province.
Talabany went on to form the opposition party Baray Gal, which won two seats in last year’s Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections.
