ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Turkish drone targeted a car carrying alleged members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Friday, killing at least four in Garmiyan administration’s town of Kalar, the Kurdistan Region’s counter-terrorism directorate said as the Region continues to experience an increase in drone attacks in recent months.
A Jeep vehicle was set on fire after it was hit by a drone near Kalar’s silo at around 9:30 am, killing at least four PKK affiliates and injuring another. The town is located deep in the Kurdistan Region's Sulaimani province.
“According to the information, the targets were PKK fighters and were targeted by Turkish army drones,” read the statement from CTD.
Sheikh Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa, vice president of the Kurdistan Region, arrived at the scene shortly after the incident, according to Rudaw’s ground reporter Hunar Hamid.
Neither Turkey nor the PKK has commented on the incident as of yet.
The PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey and is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Turkey frequently targets alleged PKK hideouts in the Kurdistan Region’s mountains. It launched a new military operation against the armed group in Duhok in April.
However, despite Ankara’s denial, the assaults have previously led to civilian casualties who are often caught in the crossfire in the Region.
The Turkey-PKK conflict has killed at least 597 civilians, and 226 “individuals of unknown affiliation” since July 2015, says International Crisis Group.
The Turkish army injured two civilians in Duhok on Wednesday, while two children were killed during clashes between Ankara and the PKK in May.
