The Turkish Air Force fired on a vehicle driving on a road in the Zawita subdistrict, about 20 kilometres east of Duhok city, local official Mushir Bashir told Rudaw. Four people were in the vehicle, but their identities were not immediately known, he said.
Initial reports are that three people were killed and a fourth was injured. A witness who filmed the burning car told Rudaw he heard what he believed to be a rocket hit the vehicle.
The PKK is a Kurdish group fighting for increased rights for the Kurdish minority in Turkey, and is designated a terrorist group by Ankara and its allies. It has been in conflict with the Turkish state for decades. Turkey launched new operations against the group in the Kurdistan Region and disputed territories of Iraq in mid-June. Air offensive Operation Claw-Eagle began on June 15, with a ground offensive, dubbed Operation Claw-Tiger, beginning two days later.
Seven civilians have been killed and many injured in Turkish airstrikes since mid-June. This week, three Iraqi border guards, including two commanders, were killed when a Turkish drone targeted their meeting with PKK leaders. A senior PKK commander was also killed.
Baghdad condemned the killings, cancelling a planned visit by Turkey’s defence minister and summoning Ankara’s ambassador. Maj. Gen. Tahsin Khafaji, spokesperson of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, told Iraqi state media on Thursday that Iraqi security forces have the military capabilities to faceoff the Turkish attacks in case officials choose a military option over diplomatic efforts to face Turkey’s incursion into Iraq.
France’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it condemns any violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.
Ankara has vowed to continue its campaign against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region mountains “as long as PKK’s presence in Iraq continues to be tolerated,” read a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
