A Turkish drone on Sunday targeted a car carrying three citizens in a village near Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, killing one and leaving another severely injured. Local media sources reported that the victims were ordinary residents of a nearby village with no apparent ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), fuelling concerns over recurring collateral damage faced by civilians during Turkey’s protracted military attacks against the group.
Sunday’s attack occurred at approximately 18:00 local time when the civilians were on the way to water their gardens. The victim killed in the attack was named Alan İsmail, and had been married for just a few months.
As families and relatives rushed to the hospital where the injured were taken, the local population expressed collective outrage at the indiscriminate nature of the Turkish airstrikes, calling upon both the Iraqi and Kurdistan governments to take effective measures in protecting civilians from such attacks.
Meanwhile, the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is accused of actively collaborating with Turkey in ongoing assaults against Kurdish guerrillas in the Zap region of northern Iraq. The Kurdistan Regional Government has yet to release an official statement regarding the incident.