The presence of the terrorist group PKK is the source of all problems in the region, a top official from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has said.

"The PKK should leave the territory of the Kurdish region," said KRG Interior Minister Reber Ahmed on Monday.

In a statement to the press, Ahmed said the presence of the terrorist PKK in the region is illegal, adding: "I am pleased to state that the Iraqi government has recently decided that the PKK is a banned organisation. The PKK needs to leave those areas to prevent the local people and villagers from facing problems and suffering.”

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq, near the Turkish border, to plot attacks in Türkiye. They are also accused of terrorising locals in northern Syria.

Last week, Miqdad Miri Al-Moussawi, spokesperson for Iraq's Interior Ministry in the capital Baghdad, said that members of the PKK were behind recent fires in Erbil, the KRG capital, and Duhok, also part of the KRG, as well as in Kirkuk.

Mousawi reported that those arrested confessed in their statements that they planned to start fires in other regions as well.

The PKK has also been accused of starting large forest fires in Türkiye.

In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.