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As the Turkish military conducted a series of heavy airstrikes in the Yazidi homeland Sinjar (Shengal), northern Iraq, on Tuesday night, it reportedly has marked the most comprehensive Turkish attack in the area since 2017 following the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) by Kurdish forces.
The Turkish attack was carried out by both war planes and drones, and was conducted as part of a wider coordinated military operation dubbed ‘Winter Eagle’ by the Turkish Armed Forces, targeting areas in Iraqi Kurdistan and North East Syria as well.
While the Yazidi villages including Şîlo, Barî, Kurs and Çilmîra and the district of Khana Sor (Xanesor) were targeted in the strike sorties, the attacks took place during the sacred ‘Çila Zivistanê’ festival of the Yazidis.
According to a report by Roj News, the airstrikes followed a meeting between Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, the Iraqi prime minister, and Ali Rıza Güney, Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq.
Hawar News reported that two individuals were killed and dozens were injured in another Turkish attack targeting Makhmur refugee camp in the Iraqi Kurdistan, carried out within the same time interval with the attacks in Sinjar.
Makhmur refugee camp was built by the United Nations and currently houses thousands of Kurdish refugees from Turkey who were displaced during Turkish military’s operations that involved torching and forced evacuation of hundreds of villages in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority provinces.
