Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said China welcomed the two countries "handling differences through dialogue" as he met his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Ishaq Dar in Beijing.

Dar's visit comes after India and Pakistan exchanged tit-for-tat drone, missile and artillery fire following the April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir which killed 26 people.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the militants it claimed were behind the attack -- the deadliest on civilians in Muslim-majority Kashmir in decades. Pakistan denies the charge.

US President Donald Trump announced a surprise truce on May 10, which appears to be holding over more than a week later.

China is Pakistan's largest arms supplier and Dar confirmed that Islamabad used Chinese jets against India.

Wang meanwhile called Pakistan an "ironclad friend" and vowed to deepen the "all-weather strategic cooperative partnership" between the two countries, a readout from China's foreign ministry said.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Sulaimaniyah, Iraq (AFP) May 20, 2025 - The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has said Turkey should ease prison conditions for its founder Abdullah Ocalan, declaring him the group's "chief negotiator" for any future talks after a decision to disband.

A spokesman for the Kurdish group, blacklisted as a "terrorist" organisation by Ankara and its Western allies, told AFP in an interview on Monday that Turkey has not yet provided guarantees for a peace process, and expressed objection to exiling PKK members.

In recent months, the PKK has made several historic decisions, starting with announcing a ceasefire and ultimately declaring on May 12 its dissolution, ending a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that cost more than 40,000 lives.

The group's moves followed an appeal by Ocalan, made in a letter from Istanbul's Imrali prison island where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999.

Zagros Hiwa, spokesman for the PKK's political wing, told AFP in a written interview that "as an organisation which has waged military struggle for 41 years, we have decided to dissolve and put an end to armed struggle."

"By this, we give peace a real chance."

"So from now on, we expect that the Turkish state makes amendments in the solitary confinement conditions" of Ocalan, and allow him "free and secure work conditions so that he could lead the process," Hiwa said.

"Leader Apo is our chief negotiator" for any talks with Turkey, he added, referring to Ocalan.

- 'No guarantees' -

The spokesman said that "only Leader Apo can lead the practical implementation of the decision" taken by the PKK congress earlier this month to disband, paving the way for a political settlement.

The dissolution mechanisms are unclear yet, but the Turkish government has said it would carefully monitor the process to ensure full implementation.

Hiwa said the implementation would be addressed in Ocalan's negotiations with Turkish officials.

Observers expect the government to show a new openness to the Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of Turkey's population of 85 million.

But negotiations have not started, according to Hiwa, although "there are contacts and dialogues... being conducted in Imrali" prison.

Hiwa said that his group has shown "goodwill" and "seriousness and sincerity regarding peace".

But "till now the Turkish state has not given any guarantees and taken any measure for facilitating the process" and continued its "bombardments and artillery shellings" against the Kurdish group's positions, Hiwa added.

The PKK operates rear bases in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdistan region, where Turkey also maintains military bases and often carries out air and ground operations against the Kurdish fighters.

Turkey's military said last week it will continue acting against the PKK posts until it is "certain" the threat is removed.

- 'Integration' -

Most of the PKK's fighters have spent the past decade in the mountains of northern Iraq.

Turkish media reports have suggested that militants who had committed no crime on Turkish soil could return without fear of prosecution, but that PKK leaders might be forced into exile or stay behind in Iraq.

Hiwa said that "real peace requires integration, not exile."

"If the Turkish state is sincere and serious about making peace, it should make the necessary legal amendments so that PKK members would be integrated" into a "democratic society", he added.

The Kurds, an ethnic minority with a distinct culture and language, are rooted in the mountainous region spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

They have long fought for their own homeland, but for decades suffered defeats.

Today, millions of Kurds live in relative safety in Iraq's Kurdistan and under the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria.

Both areas have been embroiled in the PKK insurgency against the Turkish state.

In Syria, following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December by Islamist fighters with ties to Turkey, the Kurds are left navigating an uncertain future.

Turkey sees Syrian Kurdish forces, who make up the bulk of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an offshoot of the PKK.

Hiwa said "we don't intervene in the matters regarding the SDF."

"The present process is between PKK and Turkey. No other party is involved".

But the process "will surely have positive implications for the solution of the Kurdish question in other parts of Kurdistan," he said.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Washington DC (UPI) May 21, 2025 - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday announced the launch of a new "comprehensive review" of the United States' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan to ensure those responsible face accountability.

In a memo, Hegseth said the Pentagon has been reviewing the withdrawal for the last three months and that he has concluded there is "need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people."

"The Department of Defense has an obligation, both to the American people and to the warfighters who sacrificed their youth in Afghanistan, to get the facts," he said.

"This remains an important step toward regaining faith and trust with the American people and all those who wear the uniform and is prudent based on the number of casualties and equipment lost during the execution of this withdrawal operation."

There have been several government reviews of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was initiated in January 2020 under the first Trump administration and concluded in August 2021 during the Biden administration.

Some 124,000 Afghans, including 6,000 U.S. citizens, were evacuated from the country along with the exit of the U.S. military.

During the withdrawal, 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghans were killed in the bombing at Kabul's international airport.

Despite reports laying blame on both administrations, President Donald Trump, his officials and Republicans have repeatedly cast it as President Joe Biden's operation. In a press release on Tuesday, Hegseth described it as "the Biden administration's disastrous and embarrassing withdrawal from Afghanistan."

Hegseth has directed his assistant for public affairs and senior advisor, Sean Parnell, to convene a Special Review Panel for the withdrawal.

"As a veteran who fought in Afghanistan, I feel the profound weight of leading the review of the disastrous 2021 withdrawal," Parnell said in a statement on X.

"We have a moral obligation to get this right -- for the generation who fought, the families of our service members & the heroes we lost."

Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, a combat veteran, and writer Jerry Dunleavy, who led the House Foreign Affairs Committee's investigation into the withdrawal, were named to the review.

Scheller was previously jailed for dereliction of duty and other charges for posting videos to social media criticizing top U.S. officials over the withdrawal.

"This team will ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation," Hegseth said in the memo.

It was unclear exactly how much of the withdrawal would fall within the scope of the review, with the memo and press release on Tuesday emphasizing the suicide bombing at Kabul airport, suggesting it would be a main focus.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Amritsar, India (AFP) May 20, 2025 - India said Tuesday it would resume a daily border ceremony with neighbouring Pakistan which it briefly halted earlier this month following the most serious conflict between the nuclear armed arch-rivals for decades.

At least 60 people died in fighting triggered by an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge Pakistan denies.

India's Border Security force said the sunset ceremony on its side would be open to the media on Tuesday and to the general public on Wednesday at the Attari-Wagah land border in the northern state of Punjab.

Pakistan said it never stopped the ceremony, with its troops marching on its side of the border alone.

The ceremony however is expected to be a low-key affair with diplomatic measures against Pakistan still in place, including the closure of the land border.

For years, the ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border has been a popular tourist attraction.

Visitors from both sides come to cheer on soldiers goose-stepping in a chest-puffing theatrical show of pageantry.

The frontier was a colonial creation at the violent end of British rule in 1947 which sliced the sub-continent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

The daily border ritual has largely endured over the decades, surviving innumerable diplomatic flare-ups and military skirmishes.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Srinagar, India (AFP) May 17, 2025 - Military veterans will be redeployed as security guards in Indian-administered Kashmir, New Delhi said on Saturday, a week after it reached a ceasefire with Pakistan to end their most serious conflict in decades.

Around 70 people were killed in the violence, which was sparked by an attack on tourists by gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir last month that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge it denies.

The government of Jammu and Kashmir approved a "proposal for mobilising Ex-Servicemen (ESM) to safeguard vital infrastructure across the Union Territory," according to a government press release.

Around 4,000 veterans have been "identified" as non-combatant volunteers, out of which 435 have licensed personal weapons, it said.

This will help by "significantly enhancing the capacity to respond effectively to localised security situations", the government added.

Veterans will work in "static guard" roles, focusing on "presence-based deterrence and local coordination".

India already has an estimated half a million soldiers permanently deployed in the contested region that has been at the heart of several wars between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who administer separate portions of the divided territory.

Rebels in India's Jammu and Kashmir have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Fighting had decreased since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government revoked the territory's partial autonomy and imposed direct control from New Delhi.

But last year, thousands of additional troops, including special forces, were deployed across the territory's mountainous south following a series of deadly rebel attacks that had left more than 50 soldiers dead in three years.

A similar veteran volunteer programme took place with 2,500 veterans during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the government.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Islamabad (AFP) May 18, 2025 - Pakistan's foreign minister will make a three-day official visit to China, his office said on Sunday, a little over a week after Islamabad reached a ceasefire with India to end their most serious conflict in decades.

Ishaq Dar, who also holds the portfolio of deputy prime minister, will start his visit on Monday in Beijing where he will hold "in-depth discussions" with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi "on the evolving regional situation in South Asia and its implications for peace and stability", his office said in a statement.

"The two sides will also review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-China bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest," it said.

Dar's visit to Beijing comes on the heels of a tumultuous couple of weeks, following an April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in which 26 people were killed.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the militants it claimed were behind the attack -- the deadliest on civilians in Muslim-majority Kashmir in decades. Pakistan denies the charge.

The territory is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, which have fought several wars over Kashmir since their 1947 independence from British rule.

On May 7, India launched strikes against what it said were "terrorist camps" in Pakistan, kicking off four days of intense tit-for-tat drone, missile and artillery exchanges with Islamabad.

The conflict left more than 70 people, including dozens of civilians, dead on both sides.

Fearing further escalation, global leaders had urged restraint from both sides early on in the conflict, including China which promised to play a "constructive role" -- though experts say Beijing had clearly picked a side.

China has been one of Pakistan's most reliable foreign partners, readily providing financial assistance to bail out its often struggling neighbour.

Dar told parliament on May 7, hours after aerial combat between the two sides, that Islamabad used Chinese jets against India, with Beijing's ambassador called to his office over the deployment.

"At 4 am in the morning, the whole Chinese team, led by their ambassador, was present at the foreign office," Dar told the parliament.

"We apprised them about all the developments taken place until that time, and they were very happy," he said.

US President Donald Trump announced a surprise truce on May 10, which appears to be holding over a week later.

While Islamabad stated earlier in the week that the ceasefire would last until Sunday, the Indian army said there was no expiry date to the agreement.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Ankara (AFP) May 15, 2025 - Turkey's military will continue acting against PKK militants in regions where they are present until it is "certain" the threat is removed following the Kurdish group's decision to disband, the defence ministry said Thursday, in a nod to its presence notably in Iraq.

The military will "continue to act in the regions used by the separatist PKK terrorist organisation with determination until it is certain the region is cleared and will no longer pose a threat to Turkey", a ministry spokesman said in a briefing.

He referred specifically to "land search and scan activities, the detection and destruction of caves, shelters, mines and hand-made explosives".

His remarks came three days after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) announced its dissolution and the end of its four-decade insurgency that cost more than 40,000 lives.

According to a ministry source, "nothing has changed" for Turkish troops following the PKK's announcement.

"Although the terror organisation has decided to disband, we need to be careful (about provocations)... by those within the (PKK) who are unhappy with the decision," the source added.

"If the disbanding is implemented concretely, we will return to our cleaning activities without conducting an operation to prevent these areas from being used by terrorist organisations again," he said, without elaborating further.

Blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies, the PKK operates rear bases in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, where Turkey also maintains military bases and often carries out air and ground operations against the Kurdish militants.

The PKK is also present in Syria, where Turkey has military bases in the north and has since 2016 carried out several ground operations to force the militants away from its border.

The source said Turkey's MIT intelligence service would establish a mechanism for "monitoring the disarmament" that would be done in coordination with the security forces in Iraq and Syria.

"It is not possible for the Turkish armed forces to perform this task since it is in other countries," he said.

"We will provide support if needed, we have bases there. Our presence (in Iraq and Syria) will continue until we are sure of security."

The source also said there would be no involvement of third parties in the disarmament process.

"There will definitely be no UN or third parties. The problems in our region should be solved by the regional countries," he said.

The weapons handover will be overseen by Turkish intelligence officials at locations in Turkey, Syria and Iraq, who are expected to register the arms and the identity of the fighters in coordination with the Syrian and Iraqi authorities, Turkish media reports said.

"Our intelligence service will follow the process meticulously to ensure the promises are kept," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST New Delhi (AFP) May 14, 2025 - Pakistan returned a captured border guard to India on Wednesday, in a fresh sign of detente after a ceasefire ended four days of conflict between the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals.

The guard was captured a day after an April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people and sparked tit-for-tat missile, drone and fighter jet attacks.

No group claimed responsibility for the April 22 attack but India blamed Pakistan for backing it. Islamabad rejects the accusations and has called for an independent probe.

"Purnam Kumar Shaw, who had been in the custody of Pakistan Rangers since 23 April 2025, was handed over to India," India's Border Security Force said in a statement.

The handover was "conducted peacefully and in accordance with established protocols," it added.

"I am very happy today," Shaw's wife Rajani, who is pregnant, told reporters following the announcement.

She had earlier told the Indian Express newspaper that before the ceasefire she had "lost all hope".

- Ceasefire holding -

Pakistan's army announced on Wednesday a new death toll from the fighting, saying India's "unprovoked and reprehensible dastardly attacks" killed 40 civilians, half of them women and children.

It also said 13 military service members had been killed during operations.

India has said that 15 civilians and five soldiers died on its side.

Addressing troops on Wednesday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad had taken revenge for its last war with India, which led to the creation of Bangladesh from Pakistan's then eastern wing.

"In this war, you have taken revenge for the 1971 war with India," he told his troops.

Despite mutual claims of initial violations, the ceasefire still appeared to be holding on Wednesday.

The flare-up in violence was the worst since the rivals' last open conflict in 1999 and sparked global shudders that it could spiral into a full-blown war.

The Pakistani military has said it downed five Indian jets without any losses of its own.

India has not disclosed losing any aircraft, although a security source told AFP at least three fighter jets had crashed on Indian territory.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised address to the nation Monday that Pakistan had chosen to attack rather than help it fight "terrorism".

"If another terrorist attack against India is carried out, a strong response will be given," he said.

Modi wrote on X Tuesday that he had met with service members involved in the conflict.

"India is eternally grateful to our armed forces for everything they do for our nation," he said.

Sharif held a call with UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday in which "he expressed concerns over the continued provocative and inflammatory remarks by Indian leadership, as a threat to the fragile regional peace", his office said in a statement.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said that it rejected Modi's "provocative and inflammatory assertions" and his "propensity to fabricate misleading narratives to justify aggression".

"Make no mistake, we will closely monitor India's actions and behaviour in this regard in the coming days. We also urge the international community to do the same," it added in a statement.

Sharif also warned India about suspending a key water supply treaty, calling it his country's "red line".

"Don't even think of touching the water treaty," Sharif said after India suspended it in the wake of the attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that sparked the latest conflict.

- 'Terror activities' -

Militants have stepped up operations on the Indian side of Kashmir since 2019, when Modi's Hindu nationalist government revoked the region's limited autonomy and imposed direct rule from New Delhi.

A gun battle at a forest around 65 kilometres (40 miles) from Pahalgam, the site of the April 22 attack on tourists, killed three men alleged to be members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based armed group, the Indian army said Wednesday.

"The three were actively involved in recent terror activities in the region," it said in a post on X.

"Recoveries from the operation include AK series rifles, large quantity of ammunition, grenades and other" military materials, it said.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, which have fought two full-scale wars over the territory since their 1947 independence from British rule.

India-Pakistan: conflict with no clear winner
Paris (AFP) May 14, 2025 - A ceasefire between India and Pakistan has calmed fears of all-out war and despite conflicting claims, experts say no clear victor emerged in the brief conflict between the nuclear-armed foes.

- No clear winner -

Both South Asian countries claim to have achieved their goals in their worst conflict since 1999, without admitting significant losses.

Four days of intense fighting began last Wednesday when India launched strikes against what it described as "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan.

India claims Pakistan backs the militants it says were behind an April attack in which 26 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir -- a charge Islamabad denies.

"If victory is defined by who lost the most manned aircraft, then India certainly lost this one," said Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie think tank.

"But India also succeeded in effectively interdicting a range of Pakistani surface targets and imposing significant costs on Pakistan," Tellis told AFP.

"Both sides continue to claim air-to-air kills, but clear evidence remains unavailable at the time of writing," said Fabian Hoffmann from the University of Oslo.

"What stands out is the extensive use of conventional long-range strike systems by both sides to target military infrastructure deep within enemy territory, including sites near their capitals," he added.

- Nuclear powers -

While slow to begin with, the international community, including the United States, eventually intervened, alarmed by the possibility of further escalation.

Hoffmann said the bitter foes showed little restraint despite the absence of "deliberate strikes on critical civilian infrastructure".

"Any shift in that direction would... potentially bring the conflict closer to the threshold of nuclear use," said Hoffmann.

The global trend towards violence, especially by states facing internal turmoil, demands greater international vigilance, according to Tellis.

The fact that both countries are nuclear powers "makes the conventional balances all the more important. But the fact remains that neither side has a decisive conventional edge in a short war," said Tellis.

- Drones on the frontline -

Like other modern conflicts, this one confirmed the "widespread" use of drones for warfare, according to Oishee Majumdar from British intelligence firm Janes.

Israel Aerospace Industries' exploding drones Harop and Harpy, as well as reconnaissance drone Heron were used by India, Majumdar told AFP.

According to specialist site Military Balance, India also deployed Indian drones Nishant and Drishti.

Indian media said New Delhi also used French SCALP and Indian BrahMos cruise missiles, and AASM Hammer bombs developed by France's Safran.

The Pakistani army used Songar drones developed by Turkey's Asisguard, according to Janes.

Military Balance said Islamabad was also armed with Chinese combat and reconnaissance drones -- CH-3 and CH-4, Wing Loong -- and Turkey's Akinci and TB2 drones.

- Chinese neutrality? -

At the start of the conflict, China urged restraint from both sides and promised to play a "constructive role".

But experts say Beijing has clearly picked a side. China said it considered Pakistan an "ironclad friend" and that it "understands Pakistan's legitimate security concerns", said Chietigj Bajpaee from think tank Chatham House.

Bajpaee also said that "over 80 percent of Pakistan's arms imports over the last five years have come from China".

"Beijing supplies Islamabad with key systems" including the HQ-9/P surface-to-air missile system, the LY-80 medium-range air defence and FM-90 defence systems, said John Spencer, an ex-US army officer and researcher at the Modern War Institute.

But Islamabad's "reliance on Chinese exports has created a brittle illusion of strength", said Spencer, adding that the systems are "designed to provide layered protection" but "failed" against India's strikes last week.

- Rafale jet claims -

Pakistan claims to have shot down five Indian fighter jets, including three advanced French Rafale aircraft, all of which were in Indian airspace at the time. India has not disclosed any losses.

Rafale maker Dassault did not comment.

According to a European military source, it is "very unlikely" that three Rafales were destroyed, but "credible" that at least one was.

Analysts suggest that Indian aircraft were shot down by a Chinese air-to-air missile, the PL-15E, with a range of 145 kilometres (90 miles) in the version acquired by Islamabad, and whose debris was found in Indian territory.

"India lost at least one Rafale to a Pakistani J-10C firing a PL-15 air-to-air missile in an ultra-long-range air engagement," said Carnegie's Tellis.

This type of missile can target a position while remaining undetected "until its own radar is activated a few dozen kilometres away, or a few seconds" from its target, according to a French fighter pilot interviewed by AFP.

"You can't escape it".

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Uri, India (AFP) May 12, 2025 - Expert teams on Monday defused unexploded bombs in India's border areas with Pakistan before letting displaced Kashmiri villagers return home following a ceasefire between the nuclear-armed foes.

Tens of thousands of people living on the Indian side of the divided Himalayan territory fled last week to escape intense artillery bombardment that reduced many homes to rubble.

A truce announced Saturday ended four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks which killed dozens in India and Pakistan and was their worst conflict since 1999.

Police had issued written statements warning people "NOT to under any circumstances approach, touch, tamper with, or attempt to move any suspicious object resembling an explosive shell or device."

Bomb disposal squads fanned out in Uri, near the de facto border with Pakistan, to ensure homes were completely safe before the inhabitants returned.

"We started at homes where people had reported unexploded ordinance," senior police officer Gurinderpal Singh told AFP.

Singh declined to specify how many teams had been dispatched or where.

- Delicate task -

"Every piece of ordinance is unique and needs to be handled very carefully," Singh said, adding that displaced villagers were only being allowed back into "areas that have been cleared."

Hundreds of border residents sheltering in government buildings were anxious to go home, waiting for authorities to declare their villages safe.

"We were happy that a ceasefire happened and wanted to go home right away," Mohammad Shafiq, a resident of Mohra village told AFP at a shelter around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from his house.

His family of five was evacuated by the army after a bomb exploded in their village last week.

"But officers told us not to return until any unexploded mortar shells were removed," said the 47-year-old.

Mareena, a 28-year-old mother of three, said she let her sheep out into the open before an army truck evacuated them to the shelter at Boniyar, around 50 kilometres from her border home.

- 'I want to go back' -

"I don't know what has happened to my house," Mareena said. "I want to go back but I am not confident yet. Anything can happen -- we saved our lives with great difficulty."

Even those whose houses were destroyed by artillery shells were desperate to return.

Basharat Hussain, 35, packed his family of nine in a car to make the journey home.

"We want to go and see what can be salvaged and rebuilt," Hussain told AFP as he waited near an army checkpoint, pleading with soldiers to let them go ahead.

"We also have to look for our cows and other belongings," he said, showing a video of his damaged home sent to his phone.

Local reports said six of around 35 bombed villages in Uri were declared safe on Monday for residents to return.

Videos showed authorities taking some displaced families from a shelter in buses back to their villages.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.

They have since fought three wars over the disputed and divided territory they administer in parts.

The latest fighting threatened to spiral towards all-out conflict before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called "terrorist camps" in Pakistan and part of Kashmir Islamabad controls.

The fighting followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.

India accused Pakistan of backing the attack but Islamabad denied involvement and immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire, fanning the latest conflict.

Militants opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir have stepped up attacks on security forces since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government revoked the region's limited autonomy and imposed direct rule from New Delhi.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Baghdad (AFP) May 12, 2025 - Iraq welcomed Monday the Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) decision to disband and end its armed struggle against Turkey, saying it would strengthen regional stability.

The PKK decision is a "significant opportunity to promote peace efforts and end long-standing conflicts," a foreign ministry statement said.

It would also "strengthen security and stability in Iraq and the region", it added.

The Kurdish armed group on Monday announced its dissolution, saying it was ending its armed struggle against Turkey and drawing a line under its deadly four-decade insurgency.

The historic announcement came after an appeal by the group's founder Abdullah Ocalan, who urged his fighters in February to disarm and disband in a letter from Istanbul's Imrali prison island, where he has been held since 1999.

Blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies, the PKK operates rear bases in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, where Turkey also maintains military bases and often carries out air and ground operations against the Kurdish militants.

The PKK presence in Iraq has long been a major source of tension with neighbouring Turkey.

The group's decision is an "opportunity" to look into "arguments that have long been used to justify the presence of foreign forces in Iraq", the foreign ministry said.

Earlier, the president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, said the PKK decision "demonstrates political maturity... and lays the foundation for a lasting peace that would end decades of violence, pain and suffering".

He said that Kurdistan is ready to support efforts to guarantee the success of "this historic opportunity".

The Barzani family leads the region's ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), is a crucial powerbroker in Kurdish affairs and has close ties with Turkey.

The other main party in the autonomous region, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), also welcomed the announcement.

The PUK "remains firmly committed to the success of the peace process and will cooperate with and support all parties to ensure its success", its leader Bafel Talabani said.

Turkey has long accused the PUK of leniency towards PKK activities in Iraq.

]]> Fri, 23 MAY 2025 02:30:35 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D