At least two people have been killed and two others wounded in drone strikes that targeted several villages in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Sulaymaniyah province on Saturday, Rudaw reported.
“According to preliminary investigations, as a result of these bombings, two people have been martyred and two others injured,” Rudaw quoted Sulaymaniyah governor Haval Abubakir as saying about the attack that hit three villages in the province’s Penjwen (Pênjwên) district.
Citing anonymous sources, Rudaw said that the attack was carried out by Turkey and targeted fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Bombardment by Turkish warplanes also spread fear among residents in Duhok province, also in Iraqi Kurdistan, on Saturday.
A Turkish warplane bombarded Mount Bikhayr near to Mersid village in Shekhan district, Duhok, Rudaw said, adding that there were no casualties.
Turkey’s latest aggression comes a week after an explosion at Sulaymaniyah’s international airport, for which the government in Baghdad called for a formal apology from Turkey.
Mazloum Abdi, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, survived the attack, which according to Kurdish groups was by a Turkish drone. US officials have confirmed that the attack had targeted a convoy that also included US military personnel who were there to support Iraqi forces’ efforts to combat the Islamic State (ISIS).
Ankara, which sees the SDF as an extension of the PKK, last week closed its airspace to flights to and from Sulaymaniyah, citing increased PKK activity and “infiltration” into the airport.
Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish officials earlier this week reportedly held several meetings this decision.
Following Saturday’s drone attack, Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, expressed his concerns about the security situation in Sulaymaniyah, Rudaw reported.
The ongoing Turkish attacks in Sulaymaniyah have escalated tensions between the Sulaymaniyah-based Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), represented by Qubad Talabani in the Iraqi Kurdistan government in Erbil, and Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which has overall control of the same government.
