Turkish airstrike on Shingal clinic killed 4 fighters, 4 health workers: statement

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eight people, four fighters and four health workers, were killed in the Turkish airstrike on a medical clinic in the Shingal area on Tuesday, a local administration announced on Wednesday. 

Three consecutive airstrikes hit a medical centre in the village of Sikeniye, on the south side of the Shingal mountain range. A fourth strike hit some 15 minutes later. The facility is associated with the Shingal Resistance Units (YBS). 

The dead were identified as YBS fighters Hamid Sadun, Khidir Sharaf, Rami al-Salim, and Meytem Khidir Khalaf, and health workers Eli Resho Khidir, Sedo Ilyas Resho, Heci Khidir and Muhlise Sidar, according to a statement from the Shingal Democratic Autonomous Assembly, a local administration affiliated with the YBS.

The YBS fighters killed were providing security at the clinic. Another four health personnel were injured. 

“The bombing of the hospital will go down in history as a crime against humanity,” read the statement. 

On Thursday, the Turkish defense ministry claimed it had "neutralized" 10 PKK members in the aerial operation.

This was the second, deadly Turkish airstrike on the Shingal area in as many days. On Monday, YBS commander Said Hassan was killed alongside fighter Isa Khwededa. Hassan founded the YBS, according to the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group that includes the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The YBS was formed in the aftermath of the Islamic State (ISIS) 2014 genocide against the Yazidis in northern Iraq and played a role in defeating the terror group in the Shingal area, a Yazidi heartland. Ankara considers the YBS a branch of the PKK, which it names a terror organization.

The day he was killed, Hassan was on his way to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, according to the Shingal Democratic Autonomous Assembly. “This attack took place in front of al-Kadhimi,” the statement noted.

Kadhimi told reporters in the town that they are investigating the killing of Hassan. 

He was in Shingal on Monday, visiting mass graves of Yazidis who were murdered by ISIS. There, he pledged that a historic agreement struck last year to secure Shingal would be implemented and pave the way for reconstruction of the district and “restore familiarity, love and coexistence.”

The Shingal Agreement between federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) tasks Baghdad with securing the troubled area where a multitude of armed groups have staked claims in the defeat of ISIS. Under the deal, armed groups linked to the PKK and Iraq’s Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) must withdraw and a new force will be established, recruiting from the local population. The agreement was announced last October, but has yet to be implemented.

In a meeting with his security council on Wednesday, Kadhimi discussed the situation in Shingal. The council “condemned unilateral military actions that offend the principles of good-neighbourliness,” but did not mention Turkey.

The Shingal Democratic Autonomous Assembly condemned Baghdad’s silence on the airstrikes. “As long as the Iraqi government remains silent about the Turkish attacks, it is involved in them,” it stated. It also wondered why the United Nations mission in Iraq (UNAMI) had not commented on the attack on the medical clinic. 

The US State Department on Wednesday said it is “aware of the press reports concerning the Turkish operations in northern Iraq. We reaffirm our view that military action in Iraq should respect Iraqi sovereignty.”

Turkey has not commented on either operation. 

Rudaw’s reporter Tahsin Qasim was attacked and injured by the YBS while reporting on the Tuesday airstrike. 

Updated on August 19, 12:39pm