One injured in alleged Turkish airstrike in Shingal: mayor
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — One person was injured in an alleged Turkish airstrike in northern Iraq’s district of Shingal (Sinjar in Arabic) on Sunday and is being treated at a local hospital, sources tell Rudaw.
A drone strike hit a vehicle belonging to the Shingal Protection Units (YBS), a Yezidi armed group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) west of Sinune town at around 8 pm on Sunday, according to Khudeda Chuke, mayor of Sinune. The official could not confirm the attack was by Turkey, but believed it to be.
Sources at Sinune hospital told Rudaw reporter Tahsin Qasim, that the injured is being treated at the facility.
A Turkish drone strike hit the village of Bare, near the Shingal town of Khanasor, Kurdistan Workers’ Party-affiliated (PKK) Roj News also reported.
Along with the Kurdistan Region's mountainous areas, Turkey occasionally targets Shingal and its surroundings on the grounds that it is seeking out the PKK in the area. Shingal is a disputed area that is claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad.
Since October 2017, Shingal has been in the security portfolio of Iraq, but is controlled by numerous different armed groups and security forces. Baghdad and Erbil reached a "historic" agreement over the governance and security of Shingal, which they say will bolster federal authority over the disputed territory.
Turkey has pursued the PKK in the Kurdistan Region for decades, but its campaign this summer and fall has pushed into populated areas kilometres away from major urban centers.