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Kurdistan
Makhmour refugee camp houses Kurds from Turkey, near the town of Makhmour, pictured in February 2020. File photo: Fazel Hawramy/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Three people were killed in a suspected Turkish airstrike near Makhmour camp in northern Iraq on Saturday afternoon.
“It was an airstrike and took place near Makhmour refugee camp. According to confirmed information, three people have died,” Sirwan Barzani, commander of Peshmerga forces on the Makhmour-Gwer front, told Rudaw.
A resident of the camp, who asked to be identified only as Ahmed, had earlier told Rudaw that Turkish air forces bombed the camp, killing at least one person and injuring a second.
Rashad Galali, deputy head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) office in Erbil, also told Rudaw that three people died.
Makhmour camp hosts more than 12,000 Kurdish refugees who fled persecution by the Turkish state, mainly in the 1990s. It is located in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
Ankara believes the camp has close ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed Kurdish group that is on Turkey’s terror list. The PKK, which fights for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey, has its headquarters in the Kurdistan Region’s Qandil mountains.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told state-owned TRT on Wednesday their next target after Qandil is Makhmour.
"Makhmour is almost the incubation nest of Qandil. This brood nest is flourishing in the city centre. If we do not go after this, this brood nest will continue to produce,” he said. "We care about Makhmour as much as Qandil."
Turkey has carried out airstrikes against the camp in the past. The Turkish military is currently conducting two operations against the PKK in northern Duhok province.
The Turkish defense ministry has not immediately commented on the suspected airstrike.
Updated at 3:22 pm
“It was an airstrike and took place near Makhmour refugee camp. According to confirmed information, three people have died,” Sirwan Barzani, commander of Peshmerga forces on the Makhmour-Gwer front, told Rudaw.
A resident of the camp, who asked to be identified only as Ahmed, had earlier told Rudaw that Turkish air forces bombed the camp, killing at least one person and injuring a second.
Rashad Galali, deputy head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) office in Erbil, also told Rudaw that three people died.
Makhmour camp hosts more than 12,000 Kurdish refugees who fled persecution by the Turkish state, mainly in the 1990s. It is located in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
Ankara believes the camp has close ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed Kurdish group that is on Turkey’s terror list. The PKK, which fights for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey, has its headquarters in the Kurdistan Region’s Qandil mountains.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told state-owned TRT on Wednesday their next target after Qandil is Makhmour.
"Makhmour is almost the incubation nest of Qandil. This brood nest is flourishing in the city centre. If we do not go after this, this brood nest will continue to produce,” he said. "We care about Makhmour as much as Qandil."
Turkey has carried out airstrikes against the camp in the past. The Turkish military is currently conducting two operations against the PKK in northern Duhok province.
The Turkish defense ministry has not immediately commented on the suspected airstrike.
Updated at 3:22 pm
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