Former Vice-President of the Kurdistan Region Kosrat Rasul Ali on Saturday was transferred to a hospital in Sulaimani province, according to the VP press office.

Ali is the first deputy for the Secretary-General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party and a prominent Kurdish veteran Peshmerga military commander.

“Mr. Kosrat is in Sulaimani. On Saturday morning, his health condition deteriorated and he was delivered to the hospital. He is currently under full medical care and receives treatment,” the statement of Ali’s press office reads.

The office did not provide further details.

Darbaz Kosrat Rasoul, son of the VP, later in the day held a joint press conference with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Health Rekawt, at Faruq Hospital in Slemani.

He assured the people of Kurdistan Region that his father’s health condition is stable and doctors have successfully operated on his intestine. 

The PUK is the third-largest political party in the Kurdistan Region with 18 seats in Parliament out of 111.

The party has been facing internal political turmoil and disunity after its leader and former President of Iraq Jalal Talabani suffered a stroke in the late 2012 and passed away on Oct. 3, 2017, in Berlin.