By 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.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) began laying down its weapons in a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday, marking the first visible step in a broader disarmament process aimed at ending over four decades of armed conflict with Turkey. Iraqi and Turkish officials hailed the move as a historic milestone for regional stability.

Fighters with a Kurdish separatist militant group that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey have begun laying down their weapons.