Unknown Turkish group claims responsibility for second fire at Erbil market

Shafaq News/ An unknown Turkish group calling itself "Ahdi Milli Teskilati" or "National Covenant Organization" has claimed responsibility for the fire that engulfed Erbil's "Langa Bazar" on Monday.

In a statement posted on a website bearing the group's name, it claimed that its members set fire to the market in 16 locations on Monday morning.

The group is demanding that the Turkish lira be used as legal tender in Erbil and that the Turkish flag be raised over the city's citadel.

The same group claimed responsibility for a previous fire at the second hand market on February 27, which it said destroyed more than 1,000 shops. It also claimed to have carried out similar attacks in Kirkuk and northern Syria.

Sunday's fire destroyed more than 150 shops in the market located in the capital of the Kurdistan Region. It comes less than two months after a similar fire at the same market.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has condemned the attack and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.