Kurdish PKK militants burn weapons in Iraq to launch disarmament

Kurdish security forces and others stand at a checkpoint, on the day of a disarmament ceremony of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters, marking a significant step toward ending the decades-long conflict between Turkey and the outlawed group, near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, July 11, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (Reuters) - Thirty Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.

Footage from the ceremony showed the fighters, half of them women, queuing to place AK-47 assault rifles, bandoliers and other guns into a large grey cauldron. Flames later engulfed the black gun shafts pointed to the sky, as Kurdish, Iraqi and Turkish officials watched nearby.