A group of six alleged terrorists who were arrested by the Kurdistan Regional Government Security Council (KRGSC) and confessed on Monday, are all Erbil residents who were planning to attack civilian sites in Erbil, the capital city of Kurdistan Region.
BasNews understands that the men were regular attendees at a mosque in Erbil where current Kurdish member of the Iraqi Parliament Salim Shushkayie, is a cleric. He represents the Kurdistan Islamic Group, Komal.
Sources close to the matter claim all six men participated in religious courses given by the Komal in the city.
Three of the detainees are brothers, whose family moved to Iran in 1990s before returning to the Kurdistan Region in 2003.
BasNews can confirm that one of the men, Mohammad Jangi Osman, was employed in the Ministry of Agriculture by the current minister Abdul-Satar Majid, himself a senior official in Komal.
In a statement to BasNews, the Minister rejected the claim, “I did not hire him, and he was here before I became minister.”
Jangi, the leader of the terrorist group, regularly visited the Abdullah Dizzey Mosque where the Komal MP is Imam.
According to a statement released by KRSC, “The group planned to detonate 18 bombs in the capital city and other places in the Kurdistan Region.
“The group admitted they were encouraged by Islamic State (IS) to conduct terrorist attacks in Erbil,” the statement added.
BasNews understands that 12 people who often visited this mosque joined IS to fight the Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Region.
Shushkayie told BasNews, “Yes, it’s true that some of the youths lived nearby but I never had any connection with them.
“I do not know all of those who visit and pray in my mosque, but I can tell you there is no teaching and gathering in our mosque,” said the cleric.
