“A Turkish army drone targeted a vehicle of PKK fighters in Mount Shingal near Sardasht camp, killing a senior PKK commander and seriously injuring two other fighters,” said the Erbil-based Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD), also known as Kurdistan CT.
The attack blamed on Turkey is the latest in a series of deadly drone strikes by Ankara in the Kurdistan Region, claiming to target PKK fighters and their alleged proxies, including the all-Yazidi Shingal Resistance Units (YBS).
PKK-affiliated media also reported the attack, saying the drone struck a civilian’s house near Mount Shingal.
The strike also comes amid a looming anti-PKK operation in the Kurdistan Region’s Gara Mountain, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan having stated in March that Ankara is close to completing a zone that will “permanently resolve” security issues along the border.
The PKK is a Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for decades in the struggle for greater Kurdish rights. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, as well as the United States and the European Union.
Turkey frequently targets the PKK and its alleged offshoots through military operations and drone strikes in the Kurdistan Region and Syria.
Earlier this month, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler, and head of its intelligence agency (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin visited Baghdad for a second round of high-level security talks. The first round was held in Ankara in December.
A day after the meeting, The Iraqi National Security Council announced it was banning the PKK from operating in the country, claiming that the group poses a threat to Baghdad and Turkey.
