The drone strike targeted a vehicle carrying the YBS fighters at around 11:00PM as they were “visiting their families,” according to a statement from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-affiliated militia.
The attack coincided with the eighth anniversary of Shingal’s (Sinjar) liberation from the Islamic State (ISIS).
“They [Turkey] have never accepted the liberation of Shingal and are making every effort to thwart the liberation of our people,” read the statement, “the Turkish state has always helped ISIS, and this fact has not changed today.”
Turkey considers the YBS as an offshoot of the PKK and has targeted its positions in Shingal numerous times, killing dozens of its members, including top commanders.
On August 3, 2014, ISIS militants took over the Shingal district of northern Iraq, committing genocide against the Yazidi minority. The district was liberated from the group on November 13, 2015, but lack of reconstruction, political disputes, and ongoing insecurity have prevented most families from returning to their homes.
Since the defeat of ISIS in Shingal, YBS has remained in control of parts of the town, with their presence having been identified as one of the sources of continued insecurity which has prevented thousands of Shingal’s residents who fled in 2014 due to the ISIS war, from returning.
Baghdad and Erbil signed an agreement in 2020 to normalize the situation in Shingal, but the deal has yet to be implemented.
The agreement includes the withdrawal of all PKK-affiliated forces from the city. Despite both the KRG and the Iraqi government calling on all armed groups to leave Shingal on several occasions, the agreement has been rejected by the PKK and its proxies.
