A Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) carried out a deadly attack on workers in Sinjar (Şengal) on Thursday, killing five and injuring two. The workers, involved in drilling water wells, were targeted at 18:00 in the Kola Samukiya area of the Khansur district.
The UAV bombed the workers’ tent three times, causing significant casualties, Roj News Agency reported. The identities of the killed and injured workers have yet to be confirmed. The Democratic Autonomous Administration of Sinjar is expected to release further details and a formal statement shortly.
This incident forms part of Turkey’s intensified military campaign against the Kurdish populations in the autonomous Kurdish regions of North and East Syria, known as Rojava, and northern Iraq. Since 23 December, there has been a notable escalation, with Turkey being accused of indiscriminately bombing civilian areas, including infrastructure and settlements. These strikes have been criticised as targeting predominantly civilian populations and attempting to destabilise the region’s self-administration structures.
Sinjar, also spelled Shingal or Şengal, is a town in the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is surrounded by agricultural land and notable for its predominantly Yazidi population, who have been subjected to and survived a genocidal attack by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014.