SDF says 9 anti-terror fighters killed in Duhok helicopter crash

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Friday that nine of their fighters from a counter-terrorism unit, including a commander, were killed when two helicopters crashed in Duhok province earlier this week. There have been conflicting reports about the incident and this is the first confirmation of who was on board.

Two helicopters were carrying members of the SDF’s anti-terror forces (YAT) to Sulaimani province “with the purpose of exchanging security and military experience to boost the level of the unit’s fighting,” the SDF stated on Friday. 

The Kurdish-led force blamed bad weather for the crash that killed nine YAT members, including the head of the force Shervan Kobane, who is reportedly a relative of SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi. Farhad Shami, head of SDF media centre, said in a tweet that they will publish the identities of the other dead soon.  Abdi shared the photos of the dead in a tweet, saying "their sacrifices will remain a method for us to preserve the freedom of our people and our land."

YAT is affiliated to the SDF and has played a key role in the fight against ISIS.

The SDF did not reveal who the helicopter belonged to. The Kurdish-led force is the main ally of the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeast Syria (Rojava) and is not known to have any aircraft in its possession.

Erbil-based counterterrorism forces had reported that one unidentified helicopter crashed in Duhok’s Chamanke subdistrict late on Wednesday, killing seven people on board whom they claimed were from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Chamanke in Duhok province is located 15 kilometres from Mount Gara, a region where Ankara in February 2021 targeted the PKK in an operation dubbed Claw-Eagle-2.

Eyewitnesses said there was a second helicopter. Duhok Governor Ali Tatar told reporters on Thursday that one helicopter had crashed, but the other one “fled.” Security forces are investigating.

The SDF called on the Kurdistan Region authorities to cooperate in returning the dead bodies to Rojava. 

Turkey quickly denied reports that the crashed helicopter belonged to them.

PKK spokesperson Zagros Hiwa told Associated Press that they do not have helicopters and the fighters on board were not their members. He suggested that the chopper might belong to the US-led coalition and was carrying Kurdish fighters from Syria. 

Iraq and the US-led coalition have also denied ownership of the chopper, according to the Kurdistan counterterrorism forces.

Sources suggested to Al-Monitor that the helicopter belonged to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which might have come into the possession of the aircraft due to its close ties to Iran. The PUK has not yet commented. 

PUK leader Bafel Talabani visited Rojava in late December when he met with the SDF commander. They talked about "developing anti-terror joint efforts to preserve the region's stability," Abdi tweeted at the time. 

Rudaw English has reached out to coalition forces for comment.

Updated at 6:36pm