In Iraq, fighters affiliated with the PKK killed in a strike attributed to Turkey
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Three people – Yazidi fighters affiliated with the Turkish PKK in northern Iraq – were killed in a drone strike on Tuesday blamed on Turkey. A similar bombardment occurred a week ago, also killing three fighters.
Three “fighters” from a Yazidi movement affiliated with the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq were killed and three others injured on Tuesday (22 May) by a drone strike carried out by the Turkish army, indicated the counter-terrorist services of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.
On Tuesday at 5 a.m. (2 a.m. GMT), “a Turkish army drone targeted a headquarters of Sinjar Resistance Units fighters,” the anti-terrorist services said in a statement, referring to this Yazidi movement. established in the Sinjar region and allied with the Turkish Kurdish fighters of the PKK.
“Three fighters were killed,” the statement added. A similar bombing that occurred a week ago to the day also claimed the lives of three fighters.
The Turkish army rarely comments on its strikes in Iraq, but it regularly conducts land and air military operations against the PKK and its positions in northern Iraq, in autonomous Kurdistan or in the mountainous region of Sinjar.
See also Iraq: in Sinjar, Yazidis struggle to return home
Tensions around a camp housing Kurdish refugees from Türkiye
At the end of February, then at the beginning of March, bombings attributed to Turkey also caused the death of fighters from the Sinjar Resistance Units, a movement which had taken up arms against the jihadists of the Islamic State group when they rose to power in 2014. .
Illustrating the complexity of the struggles involving a multitude of actors in northern Iraq, the movement is also affiliated with the former paramilitaries of Hachd al-Chaabi, a pro-Iran coalition now integrated into the Iraqi regular forces.
Ankara has set up dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan for 25 years to fight against the PKK.
For a long time, Baghdad and Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, have been accused of looking away to preserve the strategic alliance uniting them with Turkey, an essential trading partner. Even if with each outbreak of violence, press releases lip service condemn a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and the repercussions for civilians.
On Saturday, tensions erupted around the Makhmour camp housing Kurdish refugees from Turkey in northern Iraq. The Iraqi army wants to strengthen security there by building a fence to control the entrances and exits of the camp, considered by Ankara as a breeding ground for the PKK.
With AFP
France 24-Trans
