Suspected Turkish drone bombards Sulaimani province: Local official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A suspected Turkish drone on Sunday targeted the vicinity of a village in Sulaimani province with no confirmed reports of casualties, a local official said. However, a Kurdish counterterrorism force said three Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters were killed in the attack.

Gharib Ali, the mayor of Garmki subdistrict in Penjwen town, told Rudaw that “a Turkish drone hit the vicinity of Zangidar village, which is affiliated to our subdistrict, but it is not clear if it caused any casualties.”

However, the Erbil-based Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD), which often reports Turkish attacks in the Kurdistan Region, said the drone targeted a vehicle in the village and killed three PKK fighters.  

PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. It is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, which has launched numerous operations against the group and its alleged offshoots in the Kurdistan Region and Syria. 

The Turkish army on Saturday bombarded bordering areas in Duhok province following the death of one of its soldiers in the province.

Another Turkish soldier was killed by the PKK in the province on Thursday as the Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was holding meetings with the Kurdish officials in Erbil during his first trip to Iraq and the Region since he assumed the position.