Turkish airstrikes return to Shingal

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkey has resumed airstrikes on northern Iraq’s Shingal (Sinjar in Arabic), in the first attacks on the Yezidi heartland since the onset of their latest operation in mid-June.

Khudeda Chuke, mayor of Sinune town, says a vehicle belonging to the Shingal Protection Units (YBS), a Yezidi armed group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was hit in the vicinity of Bahraviyan village, seven kilometres west of the town of Khanasor. 

"Thankfully, there were no casualties in the bombing," Chuke said, adding the airstrike struck the vehicle at a YBS base.

"There were only minor material damages," he noted.

In a statement, the YBS acknowledged the airstrikes, but said they would publish details of the Turkish airstrikes at a later time, according to PKK-affiliated Rojnews. 

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, and is controlled by numerous different armed groups and security forces.

Turkey launched air and ground operations against alleged PKK bases within the Kurdistan Region and disputed territories in mid-June. At least eight civilians have been killed during the operations. Shingal was one of the first site to be hit in Turkey’s latest offensive, enduring a number of bombardments on June 15. 

Turkey has pursued the PKK in the Kurdistan Region for decades, but its campaign this summer is pushing into populated areas kilometres away from major urban centers.

The PKK is an armed Kurdish group which has fought Turkey for rights for that country’s Kurdish minority for decades.

Tens of villages have been vacated in the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region since Turkey launched its offensive.