Kurdish PKK militants say have left key area in north Iraq

The Kurdish militant PKK said Monday its forces had withdrawn from a key border area in northern Iraq in a move aimed at shoring up the peace process with Turkey.

The pull out comes six months after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey, drawing a line under four decades of violence that had claimed some 50,000 lives.

"As of the evening of November 16, our forces.. in the Zap region have been withdrawn," the group said in a statement published by Firat news agency.

"Currently the risk of conflict in the area has been completely eliminated," it said, describing the withdrawal from Zap as a "significant practical contribution" that showed the PKK's "commitment" to ongoing efforts

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