According to reports Bitawan-NGO, (PKK) is suspected of causing an Oct. 28 explosion on the Turkish side of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline, which temporarily shut down oil flows from fields controlled by both the federal Iraqi government and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

If confirmed as an act of PKK sabotage, the incident would represent a significant new threat to the KRG’s oil sector, which depends on the export pipeline to Ceyhan to monetize almost all of its production.