Three Yazidi fighters affiliated with the PKK rebels were killed Monday in northern Iraq by a drone strike attributed to the Turkish army, the Iraqi Kurdistan counter-terrorism services announced in a press release.
A “commander” of the Sinjar Resistance Units and “two fighters” were killed by “a Turkish army drone which targeted the vehicle” transporting them to the region of Sinjar, stronghold of the Yazidi minority in the north of Iraq, according to the official press release.
This group is allied with the Turkish Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a movement classified as “terrorist” by Ankara and its Western allies. The PKK announced on February 10 the suspension of its “operations” in Turkey, after the deadly earthquake that struck the country.
The Turkish military did not comment on Monday’s shelling.
Illustrating the complexity of struggles involving a multitude of actors in northern Iraq, the Sinjar Resistance Units are also affiliated with ex-paramilitaries from Hashd al-Shaabi. Yazidi fighters battled jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group before it was routed in 2017.
Turkey regularly conducts land and air military operations against the PKK and its positions in northern Iraq, particularly in the mountainous region of Sinjar. Turkey has also set up dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan over the past 25 years.
In early February, eight rockets targeted a Turkish military base in northern Iraq, causing no casualties. In July 2022, artillery strikes blamed on Ankara against a Kurdistan recreation area killed nine civilians, including women and children. Turkey had denied any responsibility and accused the PKK.