ARBIL, IRAQ – A Turkish drone attack Monday in northern Iraq killed at least three fighters from the minority Yazidi community affiliated with the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Iraqi Kurdish officials said.
“A drone from the Turkish army targeted a vehicle” in the region, killing an officer and two combatants from the Yazidi Sinjar Resistance Units, a statement from the Kurdistan region’s anti-terrorist squad said.
The three fighters were heading towards Sinjar, a stronghold of the Yazidis, at the time of the attack.
Turkey has dozens of military facilities in northern Iraq for use in its war against the PKK, and it has repeatedly carried out strikes targeting the group in northern Iraq, where it has bases, and its allies.
The Turkish army has yet to comment on Monday’s reported drone strike.
Outlawed by Turkey for waging a brutal insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984, the PKK said it was temporarily halting its operations following the devastating February 6 earthquake that struck Turkey and neighboring Syria.
The Sinjar Resistance Units is also affiliated with the Shiite-led former paramilitary group Hashed al-Shaabi, and together they have fought against the Islamic State group to drive the jihadists from Iraq.
