ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sulaimani’s security forces or Asayish released “confessions” Wednesday from a group allegedly linked to Lahur Talabany, leader of the opposition People’s Front (Baray Gal), detailing a plot to assassinate Bafel Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and attack his residence with drones. The People’s Front hours later denied the confessions as a “disgraceful scenario.”
Heavy gunfire erupted in western Sulaimani over the weekend as security forces surrounded the Lalezar Hotel to arrest Lahur Talabany following a court-issued warrant. Clashes began around 3 am and continued for nearly four hours before Talabany and his brothers were taken into custody.
One suspect identified as Rebwar Qudrat, the sniper, allegedly tasked with the assassination said in the “confession” video that they “took two snipers into one of the residential projects; the plan was to first kill Bafel Talabani, then attack Dabashan with drones.” Dabashan in northwest Sulaimani is where Bafel Talabani resides.
Qudrat was allegedly the sniper trainer of Lahur Talabany’s Dupishk (Scorpion) force.
The People’s Front slammed the “confessions” as fabricated.
“This disgraceful scenario cannot in any way cover up the great and disgusting crime against humanity of August 22,” read a statement from People’s Front.
In the statement it called upon the Kurdistan Region Presidency, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Presidency of the High Judicial council to “stop this bad and disgusting situation.”
The Asayish alleged the plan was to shoot the PUK leader from a location Lahur Talabany had selected 600 to 700 meters away.
“He [Lahur Talabany] asked me to go to a place and measure the distance from there to Dabashan. I went and measured; the place was 600 to 700 meters away,” Qudrat said.
Qudrat said another sniper was to be used by Rebwar Hamid Haji Ghali, commander of Lahur Talabany’s Dupishk force.
Lahur Talabany, also known as Lahur Sheikh Jangi, was ousted as co-chair of the PUK by his cousins Bafel and Qubad Talabani in 2021. The PUK is the ruling party in Sulaimani province. Talabany later formed the opposition party Baray Gal, which won two seats in last October’s Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections.
According to the “confession” video, after the planned assassination, Azhi Amin’s forces, commanded by Polad Sheikh Jangi, were to advance on Dabashan, where Lahur Talabany would broadcast a statement in the name of the PUK. One suspect said they were told to “attack Dabashan with drones and have Lahur Sheikh Jangi read a statement.”
“They sent us to Ukraine to train on suicide drones. Later, at Hawraza Nafta on the [northeast] border of Erbil, Azhi Amin established a drone production facility. Some of the drones were later sent to Sulaimani,” the “confession” states.
Amin was a former chief of the PUK’s Zanyari Intelligence Service in Sulaimani province. He was appointed to lead the Zanyari Agency in July 2021 by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani but was removed seven months later amid internal tensions within the PUK.
According to a PUK edict, Amin was ousted from the party in August 2022 for violating party bylaws and acting against its interests.
Talabany’s brothers, Polad and Aso Sheikh Jangi, were also detained in Friday’s dramatic clashes.
Talabany is facing charges under Article 56 of the Iraqi penal code, which pertains to involvement in a criminal conspiracy defined as an agreement between two or more people to commit a felony or misdemeanor such as theft, fraud, or forgery.
Following the arrest, both Baray Gal and Lahur Talabany’s family accused the PUK leadership of using the courts and security forces in Sulaimani to suppress him and the party he leads.
