Iraqi Kurdistan Security Foils Drone Assassination Plot Against Bafel Talabani
Iraqi Kurdistan’s security services revealed suspects trained in Ukraine planned to kill PUK leader Bafel Talabani with kamikaze drones after setting up production in Erbil.
The security services of Iraqi Kurdistan have released footage of interrogations with captured militants who admitted to plotting an assassination attempt on Bafel Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Rudaw reported.
According to the video, the suspects said their plan involved the use of kamikaze drones. They claimed they had been sent to Ukraine to undergo training in both operating and assembling such unmanned aircraft. One detainee added that a production site for drones was later set up in Erbil Province, with the devices eventually transported to the neighboring city of Sulaymaniyah.
Investigators also learned that the group had initially considered targeting Talabani with sniper fire. The idea was later abandoned in favor of a drone strike on his residence.
Rudaw noted that the detained men are allegedly linked to the opposition group known as the Kurdistan People’s Front. However, representatives of that organization have denied any involvement, insisting that no such plans ever existed.